Google Street View Car Smashes Into Three Different Vehicles in One Day

— -- A small Subaru hatchback on a mission to make it easier to navigate the streets of Indonesia ended up causing some traffic chaos near the nation's capital, police said.

One of Google Maps' Street View vehicles caused three separate accidents last Thursday while traveling in Bogor, on the outskirts of Jakarta, police reported. Officers who documented the accidents declined to release the name of the driver.

The first accident, as reported by the news agency AFP, occurred when the Street View car hit a minivan. At first, the driver was helpful and did more than simply leave his information, police said. "He did accompany the minivan driver to the garage," said Jakarta police operations chief Hendra Gunawan.

However, spooked by the repair costs, the Google car driver then drove away, police said. "He said he was scared the repair fee would be high, so he got in his damaged car and fled," said Gunawan. Shortly after driving away, the Google car hit a second minivan and a parked truck. At this point, police detained him for questioning.

When reached for comment, a Google spokesperson said that the safety of Street View cars and other drivers were very important to the company. "We're glad everyone is OK and that no serious injuries were reported [and] we're sorry for any damage caused," the spokesperson said. "We're working closely with local authorities to ensure the proper actions are taken to address the situation."

The cost of repairing the vehicle in the first accident would have cost around 200,000 rupiah, or about US$17.60, police said. It isn't known whether the driver himself would need to pay for the damages.

The incident comes at a time when the Internet giant is taking some heat from privacy advocates for both Maps and Gmail.