Google's self-driving cars are accident-prone – but it may not be their fault

Human drivers may be the real cause of the vehicles' recent fender benders: the cars keep getting rear-ended, perhaps because they distract us

Google's self-driving cars are having a rough time on the streets of Mountain View, California. But a look at the evidence suggests it's human error and not robots that are to blame.

In recent months, Google's fleet of experimental self-driving cars have suffered five minor accidents while driving 200,000 miles around this sleepy Silicon Valley suburb. That is nearly ten times the national average for 'property only' fender benders, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.