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This was a minor incident, and we're happy to report that there were no injuries. However, this might be the first instance where one of Google's self-driving cars caused an accident. If so, the Mountain View crew can no longer say it's an innocent dove on the roads -- while this wasn't a glitch, its software made a decision that led to a crash. We've reached out to Google to see if it can elaborate on what happened.
No matter what the response, it was always going to be difficult to avoid this kind of incident. Until self-driving cars can anticipate every possible road hazard, there's always a chance that they'll either be confused or make choices with unexpected (and sometimes unfortunate) consequences. However, the hope at this early stage isn't to achieve a flawless track record. Instead, it's to show that self-driving cars can be safer overall than their human-piloted counterparts.
Update: Google has provided us with its take on the incident from its February monthly report. It sees the accident as the result of that "normal part of driving" where there's mutual blame: both sides made too many assumptions. So yes, Google acknowledges that it's partly at fault for what happened. In the wake of the crash, it has already tweaked its software to accept that buses are "less likely to yield" and prevent issues like this in the future. Read the full copy below.