LOS ANGELES, 10 November (BelTA - Xinhua) - A self-driving shuttle, unveiled Wednesday in downtown streets of U.S. city of Las Vegas, and reported by local media as the first this kind of service to public in a big city, was involved in a minor crash hours after it was launched by the officials.
"The autonomous shuttle was testing today when it was grazed by a delivery truck downtown," the city of Las Vegas released the news Wednesday night on its official blog site, saying the bus automatically stopped to try to avoid the truck after detected it but the truck did not find the bus and grazed its front fender.
"Had the truck had the same sensing equipment that the shuttle has, the accident would have been avoided." the statement said.
None of the eight passengers inside the oval-shaped shuttle involved in the crash was injured.
The Las Vegas self-driving shuttle is a 12-month pilot project by AAA and Keolis, a transportation management company.
The buses, made by a French company, offer free rides on a 0.6 mile (about 0.96 kilometer) route around a district the city is developing as a technology hub.
The crashed shuttle was pulled from service for the rest of the day, but the city plans to continue the pilot project.
