While Waymo got ready to launch a driverless taxi service, Navya and Keolis opened a shuttle bus service on the streets of Las Vegas. But it wasn’t the smooth ride they’d hoped for. In fact, during the first ride in town, the bus got in trouble and crashed.
Just a couple of hours after starting to roam the streets of Vegas, a Navya shuttle was forced to stop. The reason? A delivery truck failed to stop at time and grazed the front of the shuttle. Unexpectedly, while the human driver backed without taking precautions, the autonomous vehicle actually did its job, stopping immediately after sensing the danger of collision.
Navya and Keolis had already run a successful trial with their shuttles in the city. Therefore, the chance of a crash immediately after launch was minimal. But who could have predicted the human error?! No one, which is exactly why companies are pushing to bring autonomous cars in our lives. Their systems would prevent such accidents, caused by distractions.
Although government officials are weary to let them loose on the streets unless they can be sure of their perfect technology, there are corporations pushing for exactly that. RAND published a study advising to bring autonomous cars on the road sooner rather than later: “Waiting for the cars to perform flawlessly is a clear example of the perfect being the enemy of the good,” said researcher Nidhi Kalra.
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