An Apple self-driving vehicle has been involved in an accident, a first for an Apple vehicle of its type. The accident, involving an Apple-owned Lexus SUV and a Nissan Leaf, occurred in Cupertino on August 24.
Apple is required to disclose autonomous vehicle collisions to the California DMV, and the information on the accident was published on the DMV’s website.
The Apple vehicle was in autonomous mode at the time of the crash, and sustained moderated damage. No human injuries were reported. It doesn’t appear the the Apple vehicle was at fault, but instead was the fault of the human behind the wheel of the Nissan:
On August 24th at 2:58 p.m., an Apple vehicle in autonomous mode was rear-ended while preparing to merge onto Lawrence Expressway South from Kifer Road. The Apple test vehicle was traveling less than 1 mph waiting for a safe gap to complete the merge when a 2016 Nissan Leaf contacted the Apple test vehicle at approximately 15 mph. Both vehicles sustained damage and no injuries were reported by either party.
Apple has been using Lexus RX450h SUVs to test its self-driving software in and around the Cupertino area since early 2017, and this is the first time one of their vehicles have been involved in a crash.
While Apple’s test vehicles are autonomous and are fitted with an array of sensors and camera, each vehicle has a pair of drivers inside. Apple is currently reported to be testing with over 60 vehicles.