First accident occurred in an automatic driving car, but immediately after switching to manual operation

In one theory, the first traffic accident occurred in San Francisco with an automatic driving car (self driving car), which is said to be progressing development aiming for realization in 2020. It was Nissan Reef and Toyota Prius that caused the accident, and it seems that the leaf had caused an accident immediately after switching from automatic operation mode to manual operation mode.

San Francisco has had its first self-driving car accident | PCWorld
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3024939/car-tech/san-francisco-has-had-its-first-autonomous-car-accident.html

According to the report, the accident occurred on the local date and it was on the afternoon of January 8, 2016. A company that develops the technology of automatic driving car "Cruise AutomationIt is a sign that an accident happened that Nissan Reef used for development collided with the Toyota Prius which had been stopped on the road while driving.

At that time, the leaf was under testing in the automatic operation mode, but it was switched to the manual operation mode immediately before the accident. According to a report submitted to Cruise Automation in California DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles: a department that combines the Land Transport Bureau of Japan and licensing center), the state of the accident was as follows. There are places where the depiction of the situation is unclear, but if you translate the approximate part of the contents described in the accident report as it is it will be as follows.

The leaf that was running in the automatic driving mode began to gradually move to the left in the lane lane, afterwards the course was corrected to the right. In response to this situation, the driver sitting in the driver's seat decides to switch from the automatic operation mode to the manual operation mode, and takes over the driving operation. Even after taking over driving, the operator did not change his course and collided with the unmanned Prius which was parked in parallel on the road.

You can also view the accident report published on the net by the DMV of California from the following.

(PDF)Cruise_Automation_01.08.16.pdf


In this report, it is not written how much time it took from the takeover to the accident, but Kyle Vogt, CEO of Cruise Automation, told reporters that the driver I was alerted to a warning a few seconds before the accident. Mr. Vogt said, "I had enough time, but unfortunately the driver seems to make a mistake." Moreover, there is no one who injured in this accident.

Cruise Automation owns the leaf that caused the accident, a device that enables automatic driving on the expressway "RP-1It is a company that is developing. The company plans to sell this RP-1 for Audi "A4" and "S4" models after 2012 onwards for $ 10,000, and already 250 units of production has been started . Initially scheduled to ship in 2015, but it seems that delays are occurring at present, CEO Vogt seems to refuse to comment on details.


In addition, accidents involving vehicles developed by Google are reported more than once in the automated driving car engagement. However, we have never had an accident caused by the Google side, and I also know that both were so-called "accidents". Although the accident caused by the vehicle of Cruise Automation this time did not occur during the automatic operation mode,First traffic accident caused by automatic operationIt seems that it was said that it was.

Google's automatic driving car turned out to have encountered 11 accidents in 6 years - GIGAZINE