Google Releases Additional Details Of Mountain View Self-Driving Car Crash
MOUNTAIN VIEW (CBS SF) – A Google employee behind the wheel of one of the company's self-driving vehicles was taken to the hospital following a crash in Mountain View last month.
The company released additional details about the September 23rd crash in a report released this week (.pdf).
According to the report, the autonomous Lexus SUV was crossing the intersection of Phyllis Avenue and El Camino Real with a green light when it detected another vehicle running the red light at 30 miles per hour.
The report said the Lexus automatically applied the brakes. The Google employee took manual control and also applied the brakes, but could not avoid the other vehicle.
Google said the front and rear passenger doors of the autonomous vehicle sustained significant damage. Meanwhile, the other vehicle sustained significant damage to its front end.
While no injuries were reported at the scene by either party, Google said the employee voluntarily went to the hospital where he was evaluated by medical staff and released.
The company also revealed that three other self-driving cars were involved in minor collisions in Silicon Valley in September. The three crashes took places in Mountain View, Palo Alto and Los Altos.
Google said there were no injuries reported in the other crashes.