Self-Driving Shuttle Vehicle Crashes In Las Vegas Immediately After Launch

A self-driving shuttle in Las Vegas crashed almost immediately after its first trip began. Here's what passengers say could have prevented the crash.

Within just two hours after its debut run, a self-driving passenger shuttle in Las Vegas was hit by a slow-moving truck that was backing up. The shuttle sustained front-end damage and local police and the operators of the shuttle are pinning the blame on the truck's driver. But passengers who were in the shuttle are not. Their version of the events points to the shuttle as part of the cause.

The Guardian reports that Jenny Wong, a passenger on the shuttle at the time of the crash, said, “The shuttle just stayed still. And we were like, it’s going to hit us, it’s going to hit us. And then it hit us. The shuttle didn’t have the ability to move back. The shuttle just stayed still.” Like almost all accidents, this one required two mistakes to be made.

The new shuttle was just launched by Developed by French company Navya. It was designed to complete a less than a mile loop repeatedly. AAA Northern California is a sponsor of the program. Celebrities Nascar driver Danica Patrick and magicians Penn and Teller were among those on hand hoping for a ride. Following its maiden voyage crash, the shuttle took a couple more loops around its circuit without incident. So, thus far, it has only crashed on 33% of its trips.