"As electric vehicles enter the marketplace in greater numbers, it's an appropriate time to recognize best practices that facilitate a safe response when these vehicles are in an accident, " said Todd Mackintosh, chairman of the SAE technical committee that issued the report earlier this month.

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Toyota said it sympathised with anyone in an accident involving one of its vehicles, but said it stood behind the safety and integrity of its electronic throttle control system.

BBC: Toyota settles fatal crash lawsuit

And while most traffic jams are a result of an accident or too many vehicles (or data packets in the case of the Internet) legitimately trying to get from place to place, they can also be slowed down deliberately, as happened in Brussels last September when about 100 trucks slowed traffic entering the city as part of a planned protest.

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China Daily and others also report on a traffic accident in eastern Shandong Province, where at least 50 vehicles were involved in a pile-up.

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The only documented accident with one of the Google vehicles was a fender bender that took place while a human was in control.

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