An electric self-driving BMW test vehicle swerved into oncoming traffic in Germany, causing a sequence of crashes involving four cars that resulted in the death of one person and the severe injury of nine others.
On Monday, the electric BMW iX, which was carrying five passengers, including an 18-month-old child, veered out of its lane at a road curve in the southern town of Reutlingen, brushing an incoming Citron.
The BMW then collided head-on with a Mercedes-Benz van, killing a 33-year-old passenger in the van.
The driver of the Citroen, a 70-year-old woman, lost control of her vehicle and collided with another vehicle carrying two passengers, knocking it off the road and causing it to catch fire.
Michael Schaal, a spokesperson for the Reutlingen police department, said that four rescue helicopters were engaged in the medical response and that the wounded were transported to other hospitals in the area.
The BMW’s 43-year-old driver, three people aged 31, 42, and 47, and an infant of 18 months were all in the test car.
Schaal said that authorities had not yet interviewed people involved in the collision.
The vehicle involved in the accident was an autonomous electric test vehicle, police said in a statement. Whether or whether the 43-year-old (driver) was steering the vehicle is the subject of an inquiry.
BMW admitted that one of its test cars was involved in an accident in Reutlingen, but disputed that it was completely autonomous.
The business said that the car includes a level 2 driving assistance system that is currently present in production vehicles and can help the driver on demand. With level 2 vehicles, the driver maintains accountability at all times.
BMW noted that the vehicle, which costs at least £77,300, was had to be identified as a test vehicle for data protection concerns since it was capturing video.
BMW said, “We are now researching the precise circumstances” of the accident. We are, without a doubt, in constant communication with authorities.