It didn’t take long for the nation’s first driverless public shuttle to crash.
The Navya-built shuttle, which began operating on Nov. 8 in Las Vegas, was involved in a collision with a delivery truck in the shuttle’s first hour of service, according to a report by KSNV News 3 Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department cited the driver of the truck.
“The autonomous shuttle was testing today when it was grazed by a delivery truck downtown,” the city of Las Vegas confirmed in a statement. “The shuttle did what it was supposed to do, in that its sensors registered the truck and the shuttle stopped to avoid the accident. Unfortunately the delivery truck did not stop and grazed the front fender of the shuttle. Had the truck had the same sensing equipment that the shuttle has, the accident would have been avoided.”
The autonomous shuttle was testing today when it was grazed by a delivery truck in #dtlv. Details: https://t.co/XCffVadxcy pic.twitter.com/Rz6P0hu0N7
— City of Las Vegas (@CityOfLasVegas) November 8, 2017
Although the shuttle remained out of service for the rest of the day, testing will continue as part of a 12-month pilot program, according to the city.
The shuttle will run in a continuous loop in downtown Las Vegas, according to KSNV News 3. The goal is to have at least 250,000 people ride the driverless shuttle.
