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In 1.7 million miles, Google's self-driving cars have been involved in 11 accidents

By Kenny Yeo - on 12 May 2015, 9:52am

In 1.7 million miles, Google's self-driving cars have been involved in 11 accidents

Source: Google.

Chris Urmson, the director of Google's self-driving car program, has just reported that the company's self-driving cars have covered a combined 1.7 million miles (2.73 million km). If this was in Singapore where the average driver covers about 20,000km a year, that's roughly 136 years worth of driving.

Statistically speaking, if you spend enough time on the road, you are going to be involved in an accident. Sadly, this is an inevitable fact, and Urmson reported that over these 1.7 million miles, the self-driving cars were involved in a total of 11 minor non-fatal accidents, but none were the car's fault.

Seven of these accidents were caused by another vehicle rear-ending the Google car, while the rest were caused by sideswipes, and a car "rolling through a stop sign".

Beyond this, Google's program also reveals some interesting and worrying findings about the way we drive. According to Urmson's report, Google safety drivers routinely saw people straddling lanes, checking their mobile devices while driving, and some were even reading behind the wheel. They even saw a driver playing the trumpet whilst driving.

Source: Google via Medium

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