Viral Video Shows Scary Self-Driving Shuttle EV Crash Days After Initial Launch
A self-driving electric shuttle got into an accident days after its launch.
The SWAN (Shuttling with Autonomous Navigation) vehicle was in contact with a municipal bus on the road — just two days after it hit the streets of Orlando, Florida in its launch, according to the New York Post.
The city inaugurated the service on Aug. 20.
The crash took place on Tuesday.
In a twist, a user of the small automated and electric vehicle was recording at the time of the accident — and shared a clip of the incident on TikTok.
@samorlando220 Tried out the new SWAN Shuttle auntonmous shuttle in Downtown Orlando today. We crashed. #Beep ♬ original sound – Sam Gallaher
It’s not clear which vehicle was at fault in the collision.
Police indicated that no passengers on either vehicle were injured in the low-speed collision, according to the Post.
The automated shuttle bus is intended to whisk passengers around a small area in Orlando’s downtown, according to Manufacturing Business Technology.
Orlando journalist McKenna Schueler raised questions about the $500,000 SWAN program after the collision.
“Orlando’s autonomous SWAN Shuttle launched this week, and by Tuesday, it struck a Lynx bus causing minor damage to both vehicles,” she wrote, quoting the Orlando Sentinel.
“Seems like this $500,000 pilot program is going well.”
“Orlando’s autonomous SWAN Shuttle launched this week, and by Tuesday, it struck a Lynx bus causing minor damage to both vehicles.”
Seems like this $500,000 pilot program is going well.https://t.co/RIG2I9OU59
— McKenna Schueler (@SheCarriesOn) August 22, 2023
Americans are broadly cautious about the idea of driving alongside automated vehicles on the nation’s cities and highways.
A Pew Research poll indicated that 44 percent of the public consider the gradual introduction of automated cars into transit to be bad for society.
A 63 percent majority also indicated that they would not want to ride in such a vehicle.
Orlando’s SWAN bus is designed for an attendant to sit on board at all times — and potentially take control of the automated vehicle, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
A representative for the city indicated that there were no plans to alter the SWAN pilot program after the crash, the Sentinel reported.
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