Whoops! Low Clearance Means Big Problems For Google Street View Car

Google quite literally revolutionized the way we get from place to place with their feature-packed Google Maps service. From intricately detailed mapping to an extensive database of businesses and addresses that can quite literally find anything and tell you how to get there, they have made the ancient art of losing one’s way a thing of the past.

One feature that is incredibly helpful, and also fun to play around with when you’re bored, is Street View, a literal street-level view of the world as viewed from a passing car. To gather this imagery, Google outfitted a fleet of cars to drive around and just… record. With cameras bolted to the roof of the car, the Street Fleet spends as much time as possible on the streets of America and beyond, constantly recording and updating the view of the world around them to share with those who want to see exactly what their destination looks like before they arrive.

While incidents involving the vehicles are rare, they do happen, and for whatever reason, the assortment of equipment on top of the car seems to make it automatically funny when any of the rides are involved in an accident, especially when it’s something as silly as driving into an opening that appears to be an entrance to a parking garage. While that shouldn’t be too big a deal, the driver seemed to overlook the fact that the camera gear strapped to his roof adds a couple of feet to the overall height of the car, meaning there was a bit of overlap between, and we all know what happens then.

The driver looks to be taking his time, as if he’s watching to see if he can make it into the entrance, but he seems to have taken the additional height added by his camera gear as he plows into the wall, knocking the camera unceremoniously from the roof.

I’m not sure if the driver is liable for the damage or if it will be covered by Google’s insurance, but either way, there’s some damage to be repaired.

https://vimeo.com/9329434