First US self-driving bus in collision on first day of service
Las Vegas’ much vaunted driverless public shuttle launched its first trip and within two hours was involved in its first collision.
However it wasn’t a technical glitch but human error at fault.
It was involved in a minor collision with a delivery truck which failed to stop.
"The shuttle did its job in that the sensors hit on the truck, knew the truck was coming and stopped as it was supposed to do. The problem was the truck didn’t stop," said city spokesman Jace Radke.
"That’s the whole point of doing this, is to test it in traffic, see what happens when it’s introduced with moving cars and all those variables out there."
It suffered only minor damage when the truck clipped the shuttle’s front bumper and none of the passengers aboard were injured.
Las Vegas police Officer Aden Ocampo-Gomez said the truck driver was cited for illegal reversing.
The bus had set off on a series of half-mile loops when the collision happened near the Fremont Street entertainment district.
The electric powered vehicle was then able to complete another two loops without further incident.
The autonomous vehicle is built by French firm Navya ARMA, and the one-year pilot project is in partnership with transportation company Keolis and the AAA.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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