Apple self-driving car in accident: California DMV filing

(Reuters) - An Apple Inc (AAPL.O) self-driving car was involved in an accident in California, the technology company said in a filing to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles that confirmed speculation that it has begun testing such vehicles on the road.

FILE PHOTO: The company's logo is seen outside Austria's first Apple store, which opens on February 24, during a media preview in Vienna, Austria, February 22, 2018. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader/File Photo

The accident happened last week when the test vehicle, a Lexus SUV, was rear-ended by a 2016 Nissan Leaf, according to the filing on the DMV website.

Apple was not immediately available for comment.

Apple has kept tight wraps on its ambitions for self-driving cars, declining to publicly acknowledge them until it wrote a letter to U.S. transportation regulators in late 2016 urging them not to restrict testing of the vehicles.

Last year, Apple secured a permit to test autonomous vehicles in California.

Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee and Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Richard Chang

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