The Office of Defects Investigation reports that at least five crashes involved Comma.ai hardware, with investigators noting that some incidents likely involved "forked" or modified versions of the openpilot software. One fatal accident occurred in February 2026 in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, where a 2022 Toyota RAV4 running a third-party modification called FrogPilot struck a parked first responder vehicle, killing two rear-seat passengers.
Federal probe targets Comma.ai after fatal crashes
Three people are dead and 11 injured following a series of collisions involving Comma.ai’s aftermarket driver-assistance technology. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an investigation into the startup’s devices, citing repeated failures to detect stationary vehicles in the same lane, prompting a federal review of the company’s safety protocols.
Founded in 2015 by George Hotz, the startup markets its aftermarket devices as a way to bring Tesla-like autonomy to standard vehicles, offering adaptive cruise control and lane centering. While the company warns users that they must remain ready to intervene at any moment, the recurring nature of these failures has drawn intense scrutiny from federal regulators. Neither the company nor Hotz, who stepped back from daily operations in 2022, have provided comment on the ongoing investigation.
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