A self-driving shuttle bus used to ferry visitors to the World Exposition in Osaka had a minor collision with a wall Monday after the driver manually stopped the vehicle and alighted, the bus operator said.
There were no injuries as the bus was out of service and not carrying passengers. The operator, Osaka Metro Co, has temporarily suspended operations of five self-driving buses, including the one involved in the accident, it said Tuesday.
The accident occurred around 4:30 p.m. in a waiting area of Maishima, an artificial island in Osaka. The bus started moving after it was stopped manually by the driver, with the operator now investigating the cause of the incident.
The bus is used to transport visitors by connecting a parking lot and the venue of the 2025 World Exposition. Osaka Metro will use driver-operated buses for the service for the time being.
© KYODO
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diagonalslip
not having much luck in showcasing the hi-tech future, are they?
anyway, "driverless bus".... "after the driver manually stopped the vehicle" 【・ヘ・?】
Namahage
This whole thing seems shonky.
tamanegi
Flying cars falling apart..
Driverless buses smashing into walls..
Pon de ring intestines mascot...
What next?
Mark
they still have to tell me who will be held responsible when one of this self-driving bus/car/whatever will kill a pedestrian
smithinjapan
"Osaka Metro will use driver-operated buses for the service for the time being."
Wow, the future is now, I guess. Great Expo!
tora
The whole thing is cursed. Just like Tutankhamun’s tomb, I’ll be avoiding it.
Jerry
Don’t know who will be responsible, but the number of deaths will likely be far fewer than the 1.2 to 1.3 million people who currently die in automobile accidents annually.
HopeSpringsEternal
Well at least the parts were not falling from the sky. Autonomous will never be perfect but it will certainly be a BIG improvement for society vs. human error!
Already Tesla driver assisted systems, which has the most miles, drivers and data by far are shown to be MANY times safer than Tesla's not using drivers assist.
Mark
@Jerry
I'm not saying autonomous driving is bad, we're heading towards aging societies where aged people will need to move more than ever (health checks, shopping, etc...)
if there's still a human being in the driver's seat then driving assistants are absolutely something valuable for that
what's wrong with all of this "autonomous-driving mania" is this absurd idea they want to convey that one day you'll be able to move around while sleeping or playing video games, without worrying about what's happening on the road
Ego Sum Lux Mundi
Ultimate test of faith is when they try and foist aircraft travel on us without human pilots.
As Clint Eastwood said, "Feelin' lucky, punk?"
falseflagsteve
What a surprise, The world doesn’t need this fully automated lark and cash free is definitely undesirable for the citizens.The usual suspects are getting rich from these new ways that supposedly benefit us, object to it like what I do.
nandakandamanda
Jurassic Park