Google's self-driving car involved in first injury accident
Google revealed that one of its self-driving car prototypes was involved in an injury accident for the first time. In the collision, a Lexus SUV that the tech giant outfitted with sensors and cameras was rear-ended in Google&rsquo;s home city of Mountain View, where more than 20 prototypes have been self-manoeuvring through traffic. The three Google employees on board complained of minor whiplash, were checked out at a hospital and cleared to go back to work after the July 1 collision, Google said. The driver of the other car also complained of neck and back pain.
Google self-driving cars have gotten into more than a dozen accidents since the search-engine giant started letting them on the roads back in 2009. But none of them have been Google’s fault.

In a blog post published Thursday on Medium, Google self-driving car project director Chris Urmson tells the story of the company’s latest crash, which happened in California on July 1. According to Urmson, one of the company’s Lexus vehicles was approaching an intersection in which the light was green, “but traffic was backed up on the far side, so three cars, including ours, braked and came to a stop so as not to get stuck in the middle of the intersection.” As the self-driving car slowed to avoid this traffic, a car rear ended it. You can see a video simulation of the crash below:

Urmson argues that the crash is a perfect example of why self-driving technology would be beneficial for society. Unlike human drivers, who often operate vehicles when they are tired or distracted, computers never suffer from these flaws.

Urmson also points out that crashes like the one he describes are common in America but less well understood than more serious crashes that lead to injury or death. That’s because, Urmson writes, “National crashes-per-miles-driven rates are currently calculated on police-reported crashes. Yet there are millions of fender benders every year that go unreported and uncounted — potentially as many as 55% of all crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.”

He argues that this means that the toll of bad human driving, at least in terms of money spent on repairs and aggravation, is perhaps even higher than the most widely reported statistics would have us believe.

Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later. Check here if you would like to receive subscription offers and other promotions via email from TIME group companies. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Download TIME’s mobile app for iOS to have your world explained wherever you go

Contact us at letters@time.com.