Car crashes into Waymo self-driving minivan
Raw video shows a car jumping the median and colliding with a Waymo self-driving minivan.
A Waymo-operated autonomous minivan involved in an accident in Chandler, Ariz., last week was being driven in manual mode when it was hit by an out of control vehicle.
The Chrysler Pacifica equipped with Waymo’s self-driving technology was struck by a Honda Civic heading in the opposite direction that had swerved to avoid a third car that had run a red light.
Video from the Waymo shows the Honda crossing the median and heading straight for the van, which it hit in the driver’s side fender.
Police initially reported that the minivan was in autonomous mode at the time of the collision, but later confirmed that it was being driven manually by the Waymo employee on board.
Police said the car that ran the red light was given a ticket for the moving violation.
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."
The company also said its mission is to make roads safer. It released a video of the moments before the collision.
Neither driver's identity was released.
Waymo is Google's self-driving car spinoff.
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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report