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

In an interview with the BBC, US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx said: "Driverless technology presents a lot of potential for disruption on a number of fronts,” adding: "It's unclear to me now exactly how that future unfolds." Speaking during the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas, Secretary Foxx commented on the recent accident in California involving a Google autonomous car and a bus saying it “was not a surprise.
June 8, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

In an interview with the BBC, US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx said: "Driverless technology presents a lot of potential for disruption on a number of fronts,” adding: "It's unclear to me now exactly how that future unfolds."

Speaking during the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas, Secretary Foxx commented on the recent accident in California involving a Google autonomous car and a bus saying it “was not a surprise.

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.

He 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.”

Networking & Communication Systems Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • Sorting myth from reality in vehicle automation
    June 2, 2016
    Bob Denaro looks beyond the hype surrounding autonomous vehicles to the challenges that still need to be overcome. Automated vehicles (AVs) may be the perfect storm – in a positive way - with the automobile manufacturers, the government and consumers all embracing the emergence of a transformational new technology and product.
    Read More
  • Swarco: ‘Everyone’s running after buzzwords’
    April 1, 2019
    The ITS world finds itself in a time of great change. Swarco’s Michael Schuch talks to Adam Hill about connectivity, the increasing importance of the end user – and why you shouldn’t leave your core business behind
    Read More
  • Positive incentives an alternative to road user charging?
    February 1, 2012
    The Netherlands has been looking at incentivising rush-hour avoidance. The intention is to better understand road users' motivations and find alternatives to congestion charging. Something significant needs to happen if we are to adequately address the traffic congestion and other issues caused by the ever-rising numbers of vehicles on our roads. Congestion or distance-based charging is seen as one way of managing demand and raising revenue for improvements to transport infrastructure. However, charging is
    Read More
  • Authorities look to MaaS for new solutions and cost savings
    July 18, 2017
    The structure of society and the way in which our cities work will be completely transformed by Mobility as a Service (MaaS), Finland’s minister of transport and communications Anne Berner, told ITS International’s recent MaaS Market conference 2017 in London. In her keynote address, Berner told a packed audience of more than 200 ITS professionals that MaaS has the potential to help governments around the world meet their big city targets such as the rate of employment, the environment, the efficient use of
    Read More

Highlighted Content