Reckless Driver Crashed Into Google Car, Worst Accident But No Casualties

A Google Lexus car was just involved in its worst road accident to date, and like with previous car crashes, it was the fault of the other party. The human driver apparently ran a red light, which caused the collision. Thankfully, there were no casualties.

Google cars have been involved in accidents before, 9TO5Google reports, but never at the severity that Friday’s crash sustained. In past incidents, the driverless vehicles were rarely ever at fault as well. For the most part, careless, distracted or in this case, reckless drivers are to blame.

The accident happened at the corner of W El Camino Real and Calderon Ave, Mountain View, California where the autonomous vehicle was being tested. The vehicle that crashed into the Lexus was a van with the logo of Interstate Batteries painted on the side.

When asked for a comment on what happened, Google provided a statement that explained their side of the story. The statement also highlighted the fact that in terms of urban car accidents, running a red light is the leading cause.

“A Google vehicle was traveling northbound on Phyllis Ave. in Mountain View when a car heading westbound on El Camino Real ran a red light and collided with the right side of our vehicle,” the statement read. “Our light was green for at least six seconds before our car entered the intersection.”

As Fortune notes, this incident comes on the heels of several crashes involving automated driving by Tesla vehicles, which has made the world wary of self-driving technology. In the case of Tesla’s autopilot, much of the blame falls on the drivers as well when they disengaged from driving and relied completely on a feature that is still in its infancy.

With regards to Google’s vehicles, however, it’s clear that the technology will need to evolve to incorporate more than just instructions on following traffic rules. By sharing the road with flawed drivers, a driverless vehicle will always run the risk of getting in an accident.