GM Expands its Fleet of Autonomous Cars in California

Technology companies like Google and Uber may get most of the attention when it comes to developing autonomous driving technology, but they’re far from the only ones. Almost all of the legacy automakers have their own self-driving car divisions, and they’re investing heavily in bringing the technology to market. In fact, General Motors has experienced enough success in the field that it more than doubled the size of its California test fleet recently.

Reuters reports that over the last three months, GM grew the number of autonomous test vehicles from 30 or 40 to a full 100. It’s currently testing its cars on the crowded streets of San Francisco, which it believes will help speed up the development process. But while there’s a lot more that can go wrong on busy city streets than in a quiet suburb, GM says its larger fleet has yet to actually cause any accidents. Five cars and a bicyclist reportedly hit GM test vehicles last month, but thankfully no one was injured, and none of the accidents caused serious damage.

GM’s autonomous test vehicles have been involved in a total of 13 crashes this year, but as Rebecca Mark, GM Cruise’s spokesperson, told Reuters, “All our incidents this year were caused by the other vehicle.”

Most of the crashes were the result of other vehicles rear-ending self-driving cars as they stopped at intersections or slowed to avoid potential hazards. One driver was distracted by his cell phone and hit an autonomous Chevrolet Bolt that was stopped at a traffic light. The most interesting crash, however, involved an intoxicated cyclist riding the wrong way down the street. The human driver stopped the car, but the cyclist still hit the stopped car’s bumper and fell over.

So if you live in San Francisco, expect to see more autonomous cars on the streets. And make sure you don’t drunkenly ride your bike into one. Actually, just don’t drunkenly ride your bike at all.

Source: Reuters

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