Yesterday, 15 August 2022, will be marked down as a curious day in German history.
On highway B28 (region of Reutlingen, about 20 miles south of Stuttgart) a BMW test vehicle (at least capable of operating in an autonomous situation)....got into oncoming traffic. Result? One dead, nine banged-up enough to be carried to the hospital.
Was the self-driving feature on or off? Unknown.
What cops say presently from this accident....the car came over an area on B28 where the car came approached an point with a curve, and limited vision. It crossed the mid-section of the road....hitting a car driven by a 70 year old (that person survived but was banged-up). The BMW then hit another vehicle, and that driver is the one dead.
Was the self-driving BMW on it's own, or was it on a test? No one has said for sure yet, and I'm guessing data is still being reviewed by the company and the police.
One odd aspect brought up....typically, for a self-driving vehicle to be on a German road in a test situation....there is supposed to be a decal on the vehicle. For this car....no decal, so it's begging questions if even a test was underway.
I would be the first to say that in 10,000 driving situations....there's always an odd German road built with a strange curve and a degree of elevation change in the mix. Locals might be aware of the weirdness of the construction....non-locals might not grasp the situation until it was too late to avoid a slow-down in speed.
I would imagine there will be some government hearing over this, and literally hundreds of questions posed to BMW.
The idea of self-driving cars legalized for German roads by 2030? I still have my doubts.
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