Google driverless car pulled over by police

One of Google's driverless cars was pulled over after police in Mountain View, California, thought it was moving too slowly to be safe.

The incident was reported by the California Department of Motor Vehicles and said the automated car was being "overly cautious," which is said could have been dangerous to other road users.

"The officer stopped the car and made contact with the operators to learn more about how it was choosing speeds along certain roadways and to educate the operators about impeding traffic," the department said.

However, after the police officer confirmed the car was driving lawfully, no further action was taken against the car or Google, despite it travelling 11mph below the 35mph speed limit.

"The Google self-driving cars operate under the Neighborhood Electric Vehicle Definition per 385.5 of the California Vehicle Code and can only be operated on roadways with speed limits at or under 35 mph. In this case, it was lawful for the car to be traveling on the street as El Camino Real is rated at 35 mph," the post explained.

Google also issued a statement on its Google+ profile, explaining its cars are limited to 25mph to ensure they appear "approachable and friendly" as they drive through the community.

"Like this officer, people sometimes flag us down when they want to know more about our project. After 1.2 million miles of autonomous driving (that's the human equivalent of 90 years of driving experience), we're proud to say we've never been ticketed!" it said.

"Bet humans don't get pulled over for that too often," Google joked in the Google+ post.

Google and the Mountain View Police Department often meet to discuss the safety of driverless vehicles in its patch to ensure he community is protected against rogue automated cars.

Clare Hopping
Freelance writer

Clare is the founder of Blue Cactus Digital, a digital marketing company that helps ethical and sustainability-focused businesses grow their customer base.

Prior to becoming a marketer, Clare was a journalist, working at a range of mobile device-focused outlets including Know Your Mobile before moving into freelance life.

As a freelance writer, she drew on her expertise in mobility to write features and guides for ITPro, as well as regularly writing news stories on a wide range of topics.