Trial Self-Driving Bus Collides with Street Tree; Three Passengers Injured

The Yomiuri Shimbun

19:14 JST, August 30, 2025

A bus involved in autonomous driving trials mounted the sidewalk, resulting in a collision with a tree on the side of a national highway in Hachioji in Tokyo on Friday morning.

The bus was carrying 14 people, including passengers and a driver. Three passengers sustained minor injuries.

According to a senior officer of Takao police station, the bus was operating at “Level 2,” which requires a driver to be present and able to switch to manual control when necessary, at the time of the accident.

The male driver reportedly said that he was not operating the steering wheel. The accident occurred on a straight, two-way road. Police are investigating the cause.

Scheduled from Aug. 23-31, the Tokyo metropolitan government had been conducting the demonstration trial on a one-way section of approximately 2.6 kilometers from the north exit of JR Takao station.

The trial was suspended by the Tokyo Metropolitan government following the incident.

“I extend my sympathies to those who were injured. It is essential that we thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said during her regular press conference on Friday.