Two self-driving cars came across each other on a Californian road this week, resulting in a bit of drama.
A Google-controlled Lexus reportedly cut off an autonomous Audi operated by Delphi Automotive in Palo Alto, prompting the latter to take “appropriate action”.
Delphi Automotive’s car was apparently on the verge of switching lanes when the Google vehicle pulled directly in front of it, forcing the Audi to abandon its move.
John Absmeier, the director of Delphi’s autonomous car driving unit, told Reuters that the company’s car coped well with the incident.
Google, meanwhile, says that the cars treated each other as they would any other vehicle, and that there was no danger of accident.
The encounter took place earlier this week, just before Google’s self-driving cars hit California’s public roads.
In a post on the Google+ self-driving car project page, the company wrote: “These prototype vehicles are designed from the ground up to be fully self-driving.
“They’re ultimately designed to work without a steering wheel or pedals, but during this phase of our project we’ll have safety drivers aboard with a removable steering wheel, accelerator pedal, and brake pedal that allow them to take over driving if needed.”
Speed is capped at 25mph too, and Google has set up a new website where locals can learn more about the project and share feedback on its prototypes.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
