Police in a Phoenix suburb are investigating a collision involving a self-driving vehicle owned by Waymo, a crash captured on video by the company and later posted to YouTube.
The crash came as Waymo also unveiled a video about the “360-degree” experience of being inside an autonomous vehicle and what the sensors see in controlling its movements.
The Waymo clip of the accident follows.
A driver whose sedan collided with a self-driving vehicle owned by Waymo has been cited for running a red light, police said later.
Chandler Police Department spokesman Seth Tyler said that the Waymo-owned Chrysler minivan was in manual mode and slowing for the red light when the collision occurred Friday.
Police had said initially that the Waymo minivan was in autonomous mode with a person in the driver’s seat.
Tyler said that investigators determined the accident occurred after a Honda sedan ran the red light and swerved to avoid a vehicle that had the green light.
The Honda then went across a raised median and into opposite-direction traffic lanes where the collision occurred, Tyler said.
The Honda and the Waymo vehicle had significant damage, and Tyler said the Waymo driver had injuries that required hospitalization.
Tyler did not elaborate on the Waymo driver’s injuries but Waymo said in a statement that it was “concerned about the well-being and safety of our test driver and wish her a full recovery.”
Neither driver’s identity was released.
Waymo is Google’s self-driving car spinoff.
The company says in a statement that its mission is to make roads safer. It released the video of the moments before the collision.
The safety of self-driving technology has come under recent scrutiny.
A pedestrian in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe died in March after she was struck by a self-driving Uber vehicle. It was the first death involving a fully autonomous vehicle.
Waymo 360
In its new video, Waymo says it wants viewers to “see through the ‘eyes’ of our car,”
The video follows.
Here’s what Waymoe has to say about the “exerpience:”
“Waymo began as the Google self-driving car project in 2009. Today, we have the world’s only fleet of fully self-driving cars on public roads.
“Step into our 360° video and take control of the camera to see through the “eyes” of our car. Then, be one of the first in the world to take a ride with Waymo.
“Here’s how to explore the video in 360°: – On mobile, move your phone around to explore in all directions. – On desktop, use your mouse to drag the video around your screen. – If you have Cardboard, tap the Cardboard icon in the bottom right of the YouTube player, insert your phone into Cardboard, and look around.
“If you have Google Daydream View, just place your phone into the headset. This film was built using footage and real-time data from an actual trip on city streets.”
You can learn more about how the video was made online.
