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    A self-driving taxi was involved in a ‘minor’ accident in Singapore

    nutonomy

    A self-driving taxi operated by a startup called NuTonomy was involved in an accident in Singapore today, according to a Facebook post by the city-state’s Land Transport Authority. The incident, which was first reported by Reuters, involved the driverless car colliding “at a low speed” with a truck, resulting in damage to both vehicles but no injuries.

    It is the first report of an accident involving a self-driving car in Singapore, which has positioned itself recently as a mecca for companies looking to test out autonomous technology. In the US, there have been several minor accidents involving Google’s self-driving cars, but only one of them has been blamed on the car’s software. In May, a Tesla Model S operating in semi-autonomous Autopilot mode was involved in a fatal accident.

    NuTonomy launched its pilot last August, in which six driverless vehicles began offering rides, only from predetermined pick-up and drop-off points within a 2.5-square-mile radius. Several weeks later, NuTonomy announced it would be working with Southeast Asian ride-hailing service Grab to allow riders to hail self-driving taxis with their smartphones.

    We’ve reached out to NuTonomy and Grab for comment and will update this story if they respond.

    Update, Oct. 18th, 11:54AM ET: In an email, a spokesperson for NuTonomy confirmed the accident, adding that the car was traveling with two engineers on board at the time but no passengers. “nuTonomy is cooperating fully with the investigation by the Singapore Traffic Police and Land Transport Authority,” the spokesperson said. “Additionally, the company is conducting its own investigation into the exact cause of the accident.”