Here's the Autonomous Vehicle Accident Report filed with the CA DMV.[1] "The Google AV was operating in autonomous mode and traveling at less than 2 mph and the bus was traveling around 15 mph." The other vehicle was a 2002 Newflyer Lowfloor Articulated Bus, which is 61 feet long including the "trailer" part.
Here's where it happened.[2] You can see traffic cones around the storm drain.
This is a subtle error. Arguably, part of the problem was that the AV was moving too slowly. It was trying to break into a gap in traffic, but because it was maneuvering around an unusual road hazard (sandbags), was moving very slowly. This situation was misread by the bus driver, who failed to stop or change course, perhaps expecting the AV to accelerate. The AV is probably at fault, because it was doing a lane change while the bus was not.
Fixing this requires that the AV be either less aggressive or more aggressive. Less aggressive would mean sitting there waiting for a big break in traffic. That could take a while at that location. More aggressive would mean accelerating faster into a gap. Google's AVs will accelerate into gaps in ordinary situations such as freeway merges, but when dealing with an unusual road hazard, they may be held down to very slow speeds.
I wonder if Google will publish the playback from their sensor data.
> The AV is probably at fault, because it was doing a lane change while the bus was not.
Yes, probably true, but not crystal clear. The Google car never left the lane, so it comes down to subtle questions about appearing to be parked or impromptu division of lanes near right-hand turns.
Here's where it happened.[2] You can see traffic cones around the storm drain.
This is a subtle error. Arguably, part of the problem was that the AV was moving too slowly. It was trying to break into a gap in traffic, but because it was maneuvering around an unusual road hazard (sandbags), was moving very slowly. This situation was misread by the bus driver, who failed to stop or change course, perhaps expecting the AV to accelerate. The AV is probably at fault, because it was doing a lane change while the bus was not.
Fixing this requires that the AV be either less aggressive or more aggressive. Less aggressive would mean sitting there waiting for a big break in traffic. That could take a while at that location. More aggressive would mean accelerating faster into a gap. Google's AVs will accelerate into gaps in ordinary situations such as freeway merges, but when dealing with an unusual road hazard, they may be held down to very slow speeds.
I wonder if Google will publish the playback from their sensor data.
[1] https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/connect/3946fbb8-e04e-4d52... [2] https://goo.gl/maps/QzvVXQGxhX72