On its first day, driverless shuttle in Las Vegas gets into accident

Just a few hours after it hit the streets of downtown Las Vegas, a driverless shuttle bus got into a minor accident, but police say all the blame goes to the human driver in the other vehicle.

No one was injured when a delivery truck hit the electric shuttle shortly after noon on Wednesday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. The shuttle is able to drive alongside other vehicles, senses traffic signals, and stops for pedestrians, and police said it stopped after sensing that the truck was about to back up. The truck's driver continued to go in reverse, though, and hit the front of the shuttle; police cited the driver for illegal backing.

The shuttle, which has room for 11 passengers and covers a half-mile loop in the Fremont East neighborhood, will remain in operation, says Maurice Bell, vice president of mobility solutions for Keolis Transit America. The shuttle also keeps extensive data on its trips, and Bell said that will help "tell us what occurred and what we could do in the future to improve upon."

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