Durham Police investigators said the collision – involving the autonomous vehicle Wave in Whitby last December – was while it was being manually operated.
On December 16 at approximately 3:50 pm, members of Central West Division were called to a serious motor vehicle collision involving an Autonomous Vehicle in Whitby. The vehicle was southbound on Watson Street West, south of Victoria Street West when it lost control, veered across the northbound lane and left the roadway striking a tree on the east side. The lone occupant of the vehicle, the safety attendant, was transported to a Toronto area trauma centre with life-threatening injuries.
“The resulting investigation has found that the vehicle was being operated in manual mode prior to, and at the time the vehicle left the roadway. Therefore, the hazard mitigation safety systems designed for the vehicle while in autonomous mode were disabled at the time of the collision,” said a police statement.
The 23-year-old safety attendant of the Autonomous Vehicle has since been released from hospital and continues to recover from injuries sustained in the collision. A full recovery is anticipated, police added.
Members of the DRPS Collision Investigation Unit, continue to investigate this collision.
The statement did not say if any charges will arise from the investigation.
Anyone with information about this incident or witnessed this collision is asked to call D/Cst. Limb of the Traffic Services Branch at 905-579-1520 (toll free 1-888-579-1520) ext. 5226.