Waymo self-driving car involved in Arizona crash — but wasn’t at fault, police say

A self-driving vehicle owned by Google spinoff Waymo was involved in a crash Friday at a busy intersection in Arizona, but it was not at fault, police said.

The Waymo vehicle “was in the wrong place at the wrong time, basically,” said Chandler Police Det. Seth Tyler.

Tyler said the crash happened Friday afternoon when a Honda sedan ran a red light at 40 mph and swerved to avoid hitting another car. As a result, he said, the Honda went into opposing traffic lanes and hit the Waymo vehicle.

The Waymo vehicle was driving slowly with one occupant in the driver’s seat who suffered minor injuries, Tyler said. Both Waymo and police said the car was in manual mode, not autonomous mode.

The accident occurred in a busy shopping area in Chandler.

Waymo is owned by Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company.

The Associated Press was used in compiling this report.

UPDATES:

1:15 p.m., May 5: This article was updated with details that the Waymo car was in manual mode, not autonomous mode.

3:45 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Det. Seth Tyler.

This article was originally published at 2:40 p.m. May 4.