A BMW iX caused a serious fatal accident in Germany, autonomous driving is investigated

A BMW iX equipped with level 2 autonomous driving technology caused a serious accident in Reutlingen, Germany .

According to the first reconstructions, while on the highway the car would have invaded the lane that proceeded in the opposite direction, hitting a car and causing a rear-end collision. The accident resulted in the death of one motorist and the injury of nine others. Altogether, four vehicles were involved.

At present, it is unclear whether the car was on autopilot engaged at the moment of impact. Four people, including a very small child, were traveling 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 car-mounted autonomous driving system, Driving Assistant Plus , is a Level 2 system – that is, a very advanced ADAS, but still with many limitations and similar in function and capability to Tesla’s Autopilot. Driving Assistant Plus is not an experimental function but is available, as standard or as an option, on several of the 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 if, on the contrary, the fault will rest entirely on the BMW driver.