alleged
Two passengers, Louisiana: NHTSA is investigating whether comma.ai's openpilot failed to detect a stopped vehicle
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE26007 on 21 September 2026 into aftermarket driver-assistance devices made by comma.ai and the company's openpilot software, after five reported crashes in which vehicles fitted with the devices struck stopped or slow-moving vehicles in their own lane. The opening resume states that preliminary data reviewed by ODI suggests the comma system may not have adequately detected or responded to the in-lane vehicles, and that two of the five crashes caused three deaths in total. TechCrunch and Electrek report that one of the two fatal crashes happened in February 2026 in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, where a 2022 Toyota RAV4 fitted with a comma device struck a stopped, unoccupied and fully marked police vehicle that was positioned in the left lane with its emergency lights on while officers investigated an earlier crash. According to TechCrunch, Louisiana State Police said two rear-seat passengers of the Toyota died. TechCrunch reports that the Toyota was running FrogPilot, a third-party fork of openpilot; NHTSA says that where modified software based on openpilot is involved it will evaluate the incident and consider the components shared between openpilot and the fork. The investigation is at a preliminary stage and NHTSA has made no finding. TechCrunch reported that comma.ai could not immediately be reached for comment.
- Status
- Alleged, not proven
- Deaths
- 2
- Date
- February 2026
- Place
- Louisiana, United States
- AI system
- comma.ai openpilot (running FrogPilot, a third-party fork)
- Developer / operator
- comma.ai
Why this case is “alleged”
No court, coroner or official investigation has yet found that comma.ai openpilot (running FrogPilot, a third-party fork) caused or contributed to these deaths. The case is listed because it meets our standard for a credible allegation. It will move to the confirmed count only if an official body makes such a finding.
Legal status
NHTSA Preliminary Evaluation PE26007, opened 21 September 2026, covering comma three, comma 3X, comma four and openpilot across an estimated 30,000 devices. The investigation concerns five reported crashes in which vehicles fitted with comma devices struck stopped or slow-moving vehicles in the same lane; two of those crashes were fatal, with three deaths in total. According to Electrek, the only fatal crash identified in NHTSA's released Standing General Order data is the February 2026 Ascension Parish, Louisiana crash recorded here, and one of the five crash reports is not in the public datasets. The investigation is open and has made no finding of defect or of causation. No lawsuit, prosecution or coroner's finding over this crash has been reported in the sources reviewed.
Notes
This record covers only the fatal crash that has been publicly identified. NHTSA's resume records two fatality incidents and three deaths in total; TechCrunch reports that the other fatal crash could not be identified from the report numbers cited by ODI, so it is not recorded here. Machine-learning basis: TechCrunch reported in 2022 that comma.ai was 'on track to launch some major end-to-end machine learning updates to openpilot'. Electrek reports that in its own crash report comma said the device appears to have been running third-party, non-comma software, and that comma's filings state it does not concede it is obliged to respond to NHTSA's Standing General Order.
Sources
- ODI Resume, Investigation PE26007: Crashes involving comma.ai driving automation products
- Comma's hands-off driving tech under investigation after 2 fatal crashes
- NHTSA investigates comma.ai's openpilot over 5 crashes that killed 3
- George Hotz, aka geohot, is leaving Comma.ai for a lofty AI project