The world of the driverless car has been abuzz for the last few days following an alleged incident between a Google car and a Delphi automotive robo-car.
But after telling Reuters there had been some kind of incident, Delphi Automotive back-tracked and said there had been no prang at all.
John Absmeier, Delphi's Silicon Valley lab director, had talked to Reuters about a close call between the two high-tech cars.
However, a Delphi spokeswoman later denied there had been any incident: "During a recent visit with Reuters, our Delphi expert described an actual interaction that we encounter all the time in real-world driving situations.
"In this case, it was a typical lane change manoeuvre. No vehicle was cut off and the vehicles didn't even come close to each other. Both automated vehicles did exactly what they were supposed to do."
This statement is all the more interesting since Absmeier was in the Delphi car at the time. The initial report by Absmeier suggested Google's Lexus RX400h had cut off Delphi's Audi Q5 SUV in Palo Alto, California, where both cars are being tested.
From Google's viewpoint, the Delphi vehicle "took appropriate action".
Managing expectations
Keeping such incidents to a minimum is no doubt of great importance for companies like Google and Delphi. With the self-drive car at an embryonic stage, it is also crucial to manage stories such as this – as far as possible.
A key attraction of the driverless car is that it is safer than having a human behind the wheel. Any future incidents of a more serious nature could arguably stunt the progress of the autonomous car at a very important time in its development.
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