Comma’s hands-off driving tech under investigation after 2 fatal crashes

Founded in 2015, Comma.ai makes devices that can be installed on a range of modern cars. The devices — and Comma.ai’s software, “openpilot,” — can control a car’s Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Automated Lane Centering (ALC) systems to perform functions “similar to Tesla Autopilot and GM Super Cruise,” according to the startup’s website. The goal is to “make driving chill.”

Comma.ai’s website claims that “openpilot can steer, accelerate, and brake automatically for other vehicles within its lane.” Still, much like Tesla and GM, Comma.ai warns drivers that they “must always be capable to immediately retake manual control of the vehicle, by stepping on either pedal or by pressing the cancel button.” The company’s device uses a camera-based driver monitoring system to watch for distracted or sleepy drivers.

One of the two fatal crashes appears to have happened in February 2026 in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. It A 2022 Toyota RAV4, which was running FrogPilot, a third-party fork of openpilot, struck a stopped first responder vehicle.

Louisiana State Police released details of a crash in February that appear to match the report in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s database. In its description of the crash, the agency said two rear-seat passengers of the Toyota died.

This story is developing…