US investigates crashes involving Comma.ai technology — TechCrunch

In the United States, the Office of Defects Investigation at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is conducting an investigation following five reported crashes involving Comma.ai devices. Three people were killed in two of the crashes. TechCrunch reports.

Crash details

According to the Office of Defects Investigation, in these cases Comma devices failed to detect or respond to slow-moving or stopped vehicles in the same lane. In four of the five crashes, up to 11 people were injured, some of whom sustained serious injuries.

The regulator also noted that modified versions of Comma.ai software may have been used in some cases, including at least one fatal crash. Such third-party modifications are called forks. Comma.ai and its founder George Hotz did not promptly provide journalists with a comment.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Crash in Louisiana

One of the fatal crashes likely occurred in February 2026 in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. A 2022 Toyota RAV4 using FrogPilot, a third-party modification of openpilot, crashed into a stopped emergency services vehicle. Louisiana State Police released crash data that, as TechCrunch notes, may correspond to an entry in the NHTSA database. According to police, two passengers in the rear seat of the Toyota were killed.

Founded in 2015, Comma.ai produces devices that can be installed in a range of modern vehicles. Its openpilot software can control adaptive cruise control and an automatic lane-centering system. The company warns that the driver must be ready to immediately take over control. The device also has a camera-based monitoring system that watches for signs of driver inattention or drowsiness.