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Driverless cars as smart as bad drivers

Google driverless cars have suffered the first significant blow, with one of its fleet making headlines for a crashing into a bus.

The driverless cars have been involved in 17 crashes but this is the first time Google is taking some responsibility. All previous incidents have been blamed on ‘human error’. In a statement it said:

“In this case, we clearly bear some responsibility, because if our car hadn’t moved there wouldn’t have been a collision.”

While test driving through Silicon Valley, the Lexus SUV changed lanes and put itself in the path of an oncoming bus.

While the error has seen critics argue that Google cars have a way to go before they are road ready, the test driver/passenger also has to be questioned for not taking control and steering the car out of danger.

If he too failed to recognise the impending crash, then maybe it proves that the driverless cars really are just as smart drivers?

Not proving to have the intelligence of a human yet are the robots used in Volkswagens assembly lines. 

Last year, a  worker was killed death by one of the robots which picked him up and crushed him against a metal plate.

Designed to pick up auto parts and manipulate them, the robot clearly couldn’t differentiate between a person and piece of metal.

Even if the driverless cars are not quite road ready, their size—quite similar to a Smar Car—suggests that having one drive into you won’t feel much worse than a solid shin kick.     

 

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