A BMW iX equipped with level 2 autonomous driving technology caused a serious accident in Reutlingen, in Germany.
According to the first reconstructions, the car on the highway would have entered the roadway that was going in the opposite direction, hitting a car and causing a rear-end collision. The accident caused the death of a motorist and injuring nine other people. A total of four vehicles were involved.
At the moment it is unclear whether the car automatic pilot involved in impact. Four people, including a very small child, traveled aboard the BMW iX.
BMW explained that the car in question was marked as a test car, but only because it was used to record videos and collect some data. The autonomous driving system mounted on the car, Driving Assistant Plus, it’s a level 2 system – that is, a very advanced ADAS, but still with many limitations and similar in features and capabilities to Tesla’s Autopilot. Driving Assistant Plus is not an experimental feature, but is available as standard or as an option on several latest-generation cars in the BMW catalog.
The German authorities will have to determine whether or not the accident was caused by a defect in the Driving Assistant Plus or whether the fault lies entirely with the BMW driver.
Source: Lega Nerd
