NHTSA Probes comma.ai Systems After Crashes Kill Three
The investigation covers five crashes involving vehicles equipped with comma.ai devices, including incidents involving stopped and merging vehicles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating five crashes involving comma.ai driver-assistance systems after vehicles struck slow or stopped cars, including two crashes that resulted in three deaths.
The agency is examining whether the systems can reliably detect vehicles moving slowly or stopped in the path of travel. Four of the five crashes caused injuries, with 11 people hurt, some seriously.
At least two crashes involved vehicles that hit stopped cars. One involved a first responder’s vehicle and resulted in three deaths. Another involved a vehicle that was merging.
The investigation also covers the software versions active during each crash. At least two incidents involved forks of comma.ai’s main software, including FrogPilot in the fatal crash.
Comma.ai devices augment a vehicle’s existing driver-assistance features, including lane centering and adaptive cruise control. The company’s Comma Four device can add those functions and a cloud-based dashcam to more than 325 car models across 27 brands.
More than 30,000 drivers use comma.ai’s openpilot software, with more than 402 million miles driven.
