04 March, 2016
Google's self-driving car hit a small bump in the road.
The driverless car had an accident February 14 in California. The accident was reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles in California February 23.
According to WIRED, a technology publication, the car changed traffic lanes and moved into the path of a bus.
The driverless car was a Lexus SUV. When it hit the bus, the Google car was moving at around 3 kilometers per hour.
The speed of the bus was 24 kilometers per hour at the time of the collision. No injuries were reported.
The left front wheel and fender of the Google car were damaged.
In a May 2015 monthly report Google said: "We'll inevitably be involved in accidents; sometimes it's impossible to overcome the realities of speed and distance... In the six years of our project, we've been involved in 12 minor accidents during more than 1.8 million miles of autonomous and manual driving combined."
Google has predicted the cars will be ready for the road by 2020.
I'm Mario Ritter.
This report was based on a story from VOANews. Jim Dresbach adapted the story for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.
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Words in This Story
traffic lane – n. a lane of a main road that is defined by painted lines
collision – n. a crash in which two or more things or people hit each other
fender – n. a part of a vehicle that covers a wheel
autonomous – adj. existing or acting separately from other things or people