By Adrien Montoya
Los Angeles, California — May 12, 2015
Google’s self-driving cars have been involved in 11 minor accidents over the past six years, the company announced Monday. The cars were being tested on roads and highways in California.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Google released the number on May 11, after AP reported the tech giant had notified the state three collisions involving its self-driving cars had occurred since September — at which point the permits for testing on public roads required all accidents to be reported.
“Not once was the self-driving car the cause of the accident,” Director of Google’s self-driving car Program, Chris Urmson, said in the report.
Urmson wrote in a web post that all 11 accidents involved light damage and did not result in any injury, adding that the incidents occurred over 1.7 million miles of testing, almost 1 million of which were covered in self-driving mode.
AP could not verify Google’s comments about the fault and nature of the accidents. According to the report, Google did not release documentation, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles cited confidentiality when approached for details. The agency has licensed 48 of the test cars, AP reports.
Nevada, Michigan and Florida have also passed laws permitting the testing of self-driving cars on their roads, according to the report. AP says regulators in these states are unaware of any accidents.
