APNewsBreak: Video shows Google self-driving car hit bus

Footage recorded by cameras on the bus shows a Lexus SUV, which Google has outfitted with sensors and cameras that let it drive itself, edging into the path of the bus that was rolling by at about 15 mph.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority released the video and post-crash photos this week to The Associated Press under a public records request.

Though it was a low-speed collision, the impact crumpled the Lexus' front left side, flattened the tire and tore off the radar Google installed to help the SUV perceive its surroundings.

Neither the Google employee in the driver's seat — who must be there under California law to take the wheel in an emergency — nor the 16 people on the bus were injured.

The transit agency has concluded based on the footage that the bus driver was not responsible, spokeswoman Stacey Hendler Ross said.

According to Google's accounting, its cars have been hit nearly a dozen times on the streets in or around its Mountain View headquarters since road testing began in spring 2014.

The Lexus intended to turn right off a major boulevard but stopped after detecting sandbags around a storm drain near the intersection, according to an accident report Google filed with the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Google has said that safety is its guiding principle in developing the cars, and that once mature, the technology promises to reduce collisions and deaths dramatically.