NHTSA Investigates comma.ai Driver Assistance After Fatal Crashes

Summary

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is conducting a preliminary evaluation of comma.ai aftermarket driver-assistance devices after identifying five crashes in which vehicles using the systems struck slow or stopped cars. Two crashes caused three deaths, and four of the five crashes injured 11 people, some seriously. At least two incidents involved a vehicle stopped in the roadway, including a first responder’s vehicle in the fatal crash; another involved a merging vehicle. NHTSA is examining whether comma.ai systems can reliably detect vehicles in the path of travel and which software versions were active. At least two crashes involved forks of the main software, including the fatal incident, which used FrogPilot. Comma.ai grew from George Hotz’s work on partially automated driving and now offers openpilot-based hardware and software. The company says its Comma Four supports lane centering and adaptive cruise control on more than 325 vehicle models across 27 brands. It also says more than 30,000 drivers have used openpilot over 402 million miles, while the investigation leaves the systems’ performance in these crash circumstances unresolved.