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It was bound to happen eventually. Google’s autonomous car program had a run-in with the law on Thursday when a Mountain View police officer pulled over one of the prototype vehicles for driving too slowly.
After more than 1.2 million miles of test driving on city streets, the Thursday traffic stop was the first reported incident where a Google car was stopped by local police. The self-driving car and its human passengers got off without a citation.
According to Mountain View police officials, the incident occurred in the afternoon of Nov. 12, when a traffic patrolman noticed cars were backing up in the right lane of El Camino Real near Rengstorff Avenue. That street is a 35 mph zone, but the officer said the car causing the congestion was traveling at 24 mph.
The police officer pulled over the car and realized that it was one of Google’s self-driving prototypes. The officer warned the human operators not to impede traffic although it was determined that no law was actually being broken.
For now self-driving cars operate under a set of traffic rules for neighborhood electric autos, which covers vehicles such as golf carts. To abide by those rules, Google’s autonomous car fleet is calibrated to travel no faster than 25 mph, even though that may sometimes infuriate other motorists on the road.
Autonomous cars aren’t allowed on roads where the speed limit is over 35 mph.
“In this case, it was lawful for the car to be traveling on the street as El Camino Real is rated at 35 mph,” Mountain View police officials wrote in a blog post about the incident. “The Mountain View Police Department meets regularly with Google to ensure that their vehicles operate safely in our community.”
Google officials point out that their autonomous vehicles are able to recognize when ambulances, fire engines or police cars are flashing emergency lights and, like other drivers, will yield.
Just hours after the traffic stop, Google’s media team was quick to point out in a blog post that the self-driving prototype handled the situation appropriately.
“After 1.2 million miles of autonomous driving (that’s the human equivalent of 90 years of driving experience), we’re proud to say we’ve never been ticketed!” the company cheered.
“We pissed off dozens of drivers on a busy road, but technically we didn’t do anything illegal!”
I guess self-driving cars can be assholes, too.
I suspect the car wasn’t driverless, just self driving.
These new tiny google cars have been frequently backing up traffic (15+ cars!) on Shoreline in the morning commute hours for the past few weeks, including today. I’m happy to see law enforcement correcting the situation. They are a hazard to the roadways often traveling 10-15 miles under the speed limit with extremely slow acceleration rates. Thank you MV Police! Come on, Google. If you’re trying to make things better for our city’s transportation system, slowing commute hour traffic is NOT the solution!!
So we’ll need to have them allowed to drive 35. By LAW they cannot drive over 25 mph. At 35 they’ll still slow traffic but they won’t be pulled over.
I drive up El Camino from OMV every morning on the way to my office in San Antonio Center…this morning left lane traffic was all backed up by a Google self-driving car going 25mph when traffic could have been flowing at 35mph. If those cars are not allowed to drive faster than 25mph, then they should stick to streets where the speed limit is 25mph or less!
Autonomous cars aren’t allowed on roads where the speed limit is over 35 mph.
“In this case, it was lawful for the car to be traveling on the street as El Camino Real is rated at 35 mph,
I guess even the police are afraid of Google if they can’t find a good reason to ticket them. It’s a very dangerous situation to be behind these ridiculous cars who take forever to make a decision (four way stops end up with frustrated drivers just going out of turn rather than waiting for the dumb google cars to finally move it).
If the cars are not allowed to go over 25 mph why the hell are they driving on El Camino, Shoreline and California St where the speed limits are 35 mph? What’s going to happen if you get in an accident with these damn cars? Are they never going to be at fault?
At least it was driving in the right lane, unlike those inconsiderate (clueless?) drivers who decide that they need to be in the left lane while getting passed by other vehicles on the right.
from the DMV book. The question is who gets the ticket?
There is not minimum speed llimit in California, but there is a
law that requires you to not drive so slowly as to be unsafe it is:
“No person shall drive so slowly or stop on the roadway so as
to impede traffic or block the normal and reasonable movement
of traffic.†You can be cited if you are stopped for doing this.
Why do they drive in the left lane like they were doing this morning on Shoreline Blvd?
City council – please pass a long prohibiting use of vehicles on streets where the vehicle is unable (by law or technology) to go at the posted speed.
That’s not requiring anyone to go the posted limit – just that their vehicle is able to go that speed. Anything less will by definition impede traffic.
Or if that’s too complicated, then just require vehicles must be able to go at 35mph if they are on 35mph streets.
As to Google celebrating their lack of tickets – I know LOTS of people who have never gotten a ticket while driving on city streets, so cumulatively the Google stats are nothing special. And when you factor in the traffic problems and risk imposed on human drivers, they are a big negative.
How is this car any different from a couple of bikes riding on ECR. Bikes typically go slower than 35 mph and hold up traffic.
Hold on.. a traffic cop in Mountain View didn’t recognize the self driving car? Was this his first day on the job? Those things are all over the city and very easy to ID.
But it’s not illegal to drive below the speed limit. It’s only a crime if you are holding up 5 or more vehicles.
Not sure why this cop stopped the vehicle. They weren’t holding up traffic (according to the story anyway) and they weren’t cited.
AC is completely correct. It IS unlawful to drive so far below the speed limit as to cause traffic to back up.
You can bet that a car WITH a driver would get a ticket for this and they should, since it is impeding the flow of traffic.
I had a good laugh the other night when I was stopped at a light behind a Google self-driving car. I was on Phyllis Ave, at the light at El Camino, waiting to drive through and continue on to Calderon. The Googlette car was stopped in front of me and also intended to continue through to Calderon, but for some mysterious reason it had its left turn signal on. There is a left turn lane, but it wasn’t in it…
When the light turned green, the little car continued down Calderon, all the while with it’s left turn signal on.
Based on the ignorant comments above, it should be pointed out that the reason why a few cars were “impeded”, is because they were racing each other to the next red light. 25 miles an hour vs 35 miles per hour makes little difference.
Fortunately, the anti-bus BRT haters have stated over and over again that nobody stays on El Camino for long distances. So, if there is a slowdown, the impact would be negligible.
@Greg David:
I’ve seen one of these “Googlette” cars driving on my street and it didn’t have any blue lights. Perhaps the photograph is deceptive, but there is no blue illumination on the doors.
The thing on the door looks more like a sticker or appliqué.
Ah well, I guess Embarcadero Media still thinks it’s 1995, hasn’t figured out how to deal with UTF characters on its websites.
Next time I need to use an accent mark in a comment, maybe I should just fax it in to their offices.
Uh …. who is the robot here ?
I’d just like to point out that the code specifically states “any person” impeding traffic. In this case, while the car was impeding traffic, it was not the person doing the driving!
I personally am in favor of this “driver-less” technology and can’t wait for it to be not only ready for prime time (example is Tesla) but also affordable to the masses, not just for richer people.
If the BRT plan goes through, we won’t just have a lane stuck at 24mph, we will lose it completely. We can think of the slowdown as a very small preview of things to come..
The Google cars should respect the people who live in Mountain View and pull over if they block the normal flow of traffic. It is ok to use our roads as their test lab so long as it does not cause a significant inconvenience to those of us who live here and are trying to get to work, appointments, etc.
For people who can’t count. 10 mph = 17600 yards/hour = 4.8 yards/sec Basically a car passing you every sec or 72 cars per light, so yes you are going slow.
The Dome on the car is more black tint in color. That’s a laser / camera / radar unit not a blue emitting light.
For those who fail to understand anything at all:
At rush hour, the average speed on El Camino is well below the self driving speed limit of 25mph. So, the impact is non-existant.
It’s amazing that the self-righteous technology haters are just so ignorant.
But whatever.. you people must really hate bike riders? I don’t personally know of a single person who can peddle a bike 35 miles per hour.
But luckily they don’t have to.. while you’re not allowed to impede traffic.. which is legally defined as having at least 5 cars behind you.. you’re only required to pull over when it’s safe and in a designated TURN OUT lane.
On ECR for example people are expected to go around you. You stay in the right hand lane, the faster traffic passes you on the left.
Pretty simple right?
Speed limits are meant to SLOW YOU DOWN.. but speed you up. Imagine that.
When Google gets its new housing, its then-local employees will elect more Councilmembers and they may outlaw non-Google cars. Why not just change voting to “one employee, one vote” and leave out non-employees completely?
I have witnessed a Google car break the law 3 times(twice a white Lexus vintage, and once the mini version) by not yielding to pedestrians and bicyclists when turning right from Clark Ave. onto El Camino. One time, as I waited at the left-turn signal on El Camino, with a police SUV behind me, I honked to alert the bicyclist who was stepping into the crosswalk as the pedestrian walk light turned green. The Google car proceeded without even slowing down, and the police car remained behind me. These cars need to be RE-PROGRAMMED to recognize there is a crosswalk before it makes a turn, AND look for pedestrians/bicyclists. The cars seem to have 360 vision so some smart programmer should be able to fix this unsafe driving practice! And, I wish the police would ticket them just like any other driver. We do not need any more pedestrian or bicyclist accidents! (nor bragging rights by Google)
I have never seen the blue door light. too busy trying to pass the slow car on the road.
From the article ….. The police reported it was afternoon and that street is a 35 mph zone, but the officer said the car causing the congestion was traveling at 24 mph.
I have seen the blue on the small Google cars and I think it is an excellent idea to have something that can be seen in the dark to make them recognizable. The original cars are impossible to differentiate from any other car at night. When we see a Google car we are definitely more wary for one reason or another. In the dark, I personally still like to know that a set of lights on the road is a Google self drive car rather than anything else.
Do they look like emergency vehicles? No. They look like Google cars in the dark. I’m all for it.
How many cars is google testing these days? They should suspend testing during commute hours as they are just making traffic worse. Let’s say they have 25 of them continuously operating. If most cars move through the town in 10 minutes, then those 25 cars here all the time are like 150 additional commuters! Can’t have them driving like Sunday drivers on top of that.
I want to know why googlette cars aren’t cited for violating CVC 25258(b) for having the blue illumination on the doors?
Blue lights on vehicles, regardless of the direction they face, are reserved for law enforcement.
25258. (a) An authorized emergency vehicle operating under the
conditions specified in Section 21055 may display a flashing white
light from a gaseous discharge lamp designed and used for the purpose
of controlling official traffic control signals.
(b) An authorized emergency vehicle used by a peace officer, as
defined in Section 830.1 of, subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d), (e),
(f), (g), or (i) of Section 830.2 of, subdivision (n) of Section
830.3 of, subdivision (b) of Section 830.31 of, subdivision (a) or
(b) of Section 830.32 of, Section 830.33 of, subdivision (a) of
Section 830.36 of, subdivision (a) of Section 830.4 of, or Section
830.6 of, the Penal Code, in the performance of the peace officer’s
duties, may, in addition, display a steady or flashing blue warning
light visible from the front, sides, or rear of the vehicle.
(c) Except as provided in subdivision (a), a vehicle shall not be
equipped with a device that emits any illumination or radiation that
is designed or used for the purpose of controlling official traffic
control signals.
Oh, and by the way, they are violating the law and should be cited.
22400. (a) No person shall drive upon a highway at such a slow
speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of
traffic unless the reduced speed is necessary for safe operation,
because of a grade, or in compliance with law.
No person shall bring a vehicle to a complete stop upon a highway
so as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of
traffic unless the stop is necessary for safe operation or in
compliance with law.
@Reader and AC
The horizontal bar on the door is illuminated when the lights are on. “blue” may be a stretch since it is more of an aqua color, but regardless, any color that is not red, white, or amber, should not be emitted from the vehicle. This is basic vehicle code stuff.
http://cdn.images.dailystar.co.uk/dynamic/23/photos/335000/Google-Car-2-331335.jpg