Years after the development of self-driving cars [4], autonomous driving systems are still causing serious road accidents. On 24 November 2022, a Tesla Model S had provoked a serious pile-up incident in San Francisco, USA.
The car was driving at 88 km/h before suddenly changing lanes and abruptly braking in the middle of the highway. The phantom braking* has led to an eight-vehicle collision, injuring nine people including a two year old child.
According to authorities, the driver would have reacted badly to their vehicle's braking, which was in autonomous driving mode.
By way of reminder, an autonomous car that is still being tested, BMW iX, had caused a fatal accident in Germany on 15 August 2022, leaving one person dead and nine injured. Another Tesla Model Y was also involved in a fatal accident in China on 5 November 2022 due to a brake pedal problem.
* mechanical braking that gets triggered even when there is no danger in sight.