Autonomous cars are not infallible and the latest proof of this has been a small dog that has died after being hit by one of these driverless vehicles in San Francisco (United States), after the pet ran unexpectedly in front of the car.
"On May 21 in San Francisco, a small dog ran in front of one of our vehicles with an autonomous driving specialist present in the driver's seat and, unfortunately, contact occurred," explained a Waymo company spokesperson, car manufacturer.
As revealed in this writing, the car operated in autonomous mode with a test driver supervising the vehicle from the driver's seat: "The investigation is ongoing, however, the initial review confirmed that the system correctly identified the dog that He ran out from behind a parked vehicle, but couldn't avoid contact," he says.
We send our deepest condolences to the dog's owner. The trust and safety of the communities in which we are is the most important thing for us and we continue to investigate this matter on our part ”, they have clarified from Waymo.
As they have been able to find out from The Register, the dog, who was going without a leash, suddenly crossed the road and the test driver did not see him approach the dog due to obstacles. Waymo says that he has reviewed the event and has determined that the collision could not be avoided.
In January, Waymo reported that its robotaxis had traveled more than a million kilometers without a driver and without any injuries. Human drivers could have made the figure, too: The injury rate per million miles in 2020 was 0.79 according to data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.
