Skip to main content

US transport chief: ‘Google car crash not a surprise’

The recent accident in California involving a Google autonomous car and a bus “was not a surprise,” according to US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx. No one was hurt in the accident, which happened when Google’s Lexus RX-450H tried to avoid some sandbags placed around a storm drain and blocking its path; the car’s computer was said to be at fault. Speaking at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas, Secretary Foxx told the BBC: “It's not a surprise that at some point there wo
March 14, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The recent accident in California involving a Google autonomous car and a bus “was not a surprise,” according to US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx.

No one was hurt in the accident, which happened when Google’s Lexus RX-450H tried to avoid some sandbags placed around a storm drain and blocking its path; the car’s computer was said to be at fault.

Speaking at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas, Secretary Foxx told the BBC: “It's not a surprise that at some point there would be a crash of any technology that's on the road.

“But I would challenge one to look at the number of crashes that occurred on the same day that were the result of human behaviour.”

"Driverless technology presents a lot of potential for disruption on a number of fronts," he said.

"It's unclear to me now exactly how that future unfolds."

Related Content

  • October 28, 2016
    New solutions for catching texting drivers
    Many countries have laws prohibiting texting while driving but enforcement is proving difficult – David Crawford looks at some new approaches being tried by authorities. Finding definitive solutions – technological, regulatory and educational - to the potentially lethal practice of people driving while using mobile phones is proving elusive, while the stakes grow higher.
  • September 4, 2018
    Getting to the point
    Cars are starting to learn to understand the language of pointing – something that our closest relative, the chimpanzee, cannot do. And such image recognition technology has profound mobility implications, says Nils Lenke Pointing at objects – be it with language, using gaze, gestures or eyes only – is a very human ability. However, recent advances in technology have enabled smart, multimodal assistants - including those found in cars - to action similar pointing capabilities and replicate these human qual
  • August 23, 2016
    Asecap debates the future of tolling
    Colin Sowman reports form Asecap’s Study & Information Days event in Madrid. At Asecap’s (the Association of European Toll Road Operators) recent Study and Information Days event there was no doubt about the subject at the top of the agenda: the European Union Directive 23/2014/EU. This will introduce fundamental changes to the concession model under which Asecap members operate more than 50,000km of tolled highways and, in response, it has compiled a report entitled Proposal for a Sustainable Concession Mo
  • June 11, 2019
    MaaS Market London: transport revolution
    ITS International’s third MaaS Market conference in London provoked lively discussions about micromobility, AVs, the stupidity of car drivers - and Star Trek. Adam Hill was taking notes…