Another Stupid Idea Bites the Dust

Did I miss something? Was the world clamoring for self-driving cars? Which moron thought this up?

Google revealed that one of its self-driving car prototypes was involved in an injury accident for the first time. In the collision, a Lexus sport utility vehicle that the tech giant outfitted with sensors and cameras was rear-ended in Google’s home city of Mountain View, where more than 20 prototypes have been self-maneuvering through traffic.

The three Google employees on board complained of minor whiplash, were checked out at a hospital and cleared to go back to work after the July 1 collision, Google said. The driver of the other car also complained of neck and back pain.

In California, a person must be behind the wheel of a self-driving car being tested on public roads to take control in an emergency. Google typically sends another employee in the front passenger seat to record details of the ride on a laptop. In this case, there was also a back seat passenger.

Google has invested heavily as a pioneer of self-driving cars, technology it believes will be safer and more efficient than human drivers.

What could possibly go wrong?