Near Miss For Google's Self-Driving Car

Two self-driving cars had a near-miss during testing in Silicon Valley, it has emerged.

The close call happened earlier this week when an Audi Q5 was forced to abort a lane change after a Google self-driving prototype cut it off.



The Audi is owned by Delphi Automotive and is equipped with lasers, radar, cameras and advanced computer software.

It is designed to drive itself but needs a person at the wheel as backup.
Google's modified Lexus RX400h is fitted with similar hardware and software.

The incident happened on Tuesday on San Antonio Road in Palo Alto, according to Delphi.

The company's director, John Absmeier, was a passenger in the car when it was cut off and he said the car "took appropriate action" to avoid a collision.

Google is currently testing more than 20 Lexus prototypes in California, while Delphi's Silicon Valley lab is running two prototypes.

Both firms have previously had minor collisions, typically at junctions where a car has been rear-ended by another manually controlled vehicle.

This is the first time that a self-driving car appears to have been at fault.