Self-driving truck accident draws attention to safety at TuSimple

Autonomous semi-trucks have been the talk of the town with the many concerns industry stakeholders have had. This time one of their concerns has become real. The Wall Street Journal reported that on April 6, an autonomously driven truck equipped with TuSimple Holdings Inc. technology abruptly veered left, cutting across the I-10 highway in Tucson, Ariz., and colliding with a concrete barricade.

The incident was only recently made public after regulators reported the incident. They also reported, “The April incident involved a rig with a TuSimple driver and engineer aboard, and the company has repeatedly blamed the accident on human error.”

According to an internal TuSimple report on the incident obtained by The Wall Street Journal, the semi-tractor truck abruptly veered left because someone in the cab failed to properly reboot the autonomous driving system before engaging it, causing it to execute an outdated command.