Cop pulls over Google driverless car and has no idea who to give the citation

A California Cop got a big surprise when he pulled over a small European style car for driving 24-mph in a 35-mph lane, only to find no one behind the wheel.

The vehicle was part of the Google Self-Driving Car Project being tested in Mountain View California. Although there was no actual driver, a passenger was informed of California Vehicle Code 22400 (a) concerning impeding traffic. No citation was issued in this case. Exactly who a citation would be issued to when there is no driver is still a question.

Google responded to the incident in a blog post, saying, “We’ve capped the speed of our prototype vehicles at 25mph for safety reasons. We want them to feel friendly and approachable, rather than zooming scarily through neighborhood streets.”

Photo: Google
Photo: Google

According to the Mountain view Police blog, representatives of their department meet with Google regularly to ensure the vehicles operate safely in the community.

 

Google’s Self Driving Car Project has been around since 2009 and has logged millions of miles of testing, although the record of the robotic cars is not perfect.

“We’ve been involved in 11 minor accidents (light damage, no injuries) during those 1.7 million miles of autonomous and manual driving with our safety drivers behind the wheel, and not once was the self-driving car the cause of the accident,” the Google project’s head Chris Urmson said.

Not bad for a driverless car.

[The Detroit News] Featured image via Google 

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