Consumer Watchdog demands police investigation and release of technical data and video of the recent Google car crashing with a municipal bus in California.
Google's account of the crash was posted on the California Department of Motor Vehicles' website today and the self-driving robot car appears to have been at fault.
Consumer Watchdog petitioned the DMV on Sept. 24, 2015 calling for every robot car accident to be investigated by police and accompanied by a release of technical and video data associated with the crash
The nonprofit nonpartisan group has advocated for DMV rules, currently in draft form, that require robot cars to have the ability for a human driver to take over. Google has opposed those rules.
"This accident is more proof that robot car technology is not ready for auto pilot and a human driver needs to be able to takeover when something goes wrong.
Consumer Watchdog, privacy project director, John M. Simpson said: "Google's one-paragraph account of what caused it to drive into a bus is not good enough to inform new rules of the road for robot cars."
"The police should be called to the site of every robot car crash and all technical data and video associated with the accident must be made public."
According to the report on the DMV's website, the car had moved into the right side of the lane at a traffic light to make a right turn on red, but was blocked by sandbags.
The traffic light turned green and several cars started through the intersection.
The Google robot car moved back toward the center of the lane to go around the sand bags and sideswiped the bus, which was passing, the report says.