You're piecing together two unrelated sentences from the article to tell a different story... "No collision took place" - refers to the two cars in this case.

You're piecing together two unrelated sentences from the article to tell a different story... "No collision took place" - refers to the two cars in this case. "In all cases, the self-driving prototype was not at fault, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the companies." - refers to previous crashes excluding the one being discussed in the article.