NHTSA probes comma.ai driver assist after five crashes, three deaths

September 23, 2026 at 07:20 PM2 min

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into aftermarket driver assistance devices made by comma.ai. The agency said it knows of five crashes involving the devices, resulting in three deaths and 11 injuries. The probe follows years of development by comma.ai founder George Hotz, who began the project in 2015.

Key Facts

NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation is probing aftermarket driver assist devices from comma.ai.
The agency has identified five crashes where drivers using comma.ai devices hit stopped or slow-moving cars.
Two of the crashes resulted in three deaths, and 11 people were injured in four of the five crashes.
Comma.ai founder George Hotz began developing the system in 2015 after modifying his own Acura.
By 2020, comma.ai's $999 device was rated higher by Consumer Reports than any OEM driver assistance system.

The Investigation

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects Investigation announced the probe this week. The agency said it knows of five crashes in which drivers using devices from comma.ai crashed into stopped or slow-moving cars. Two of the crashes resulted in three deaths, and 11 people were injured in four of the five crashes, some seriously.

Comma.ai Origins

Comma.ai was founded by George Hotz, who gained prominence by jailbreaking iOS and hacking Sony PlayStations. In 2015, Hotz modified his own Acura to give it a more advanced driver assist that let him take his hands off the wheel. His goal was to sell the system to Tesla and replace Mobileye as the company's supplier. Mobileye dropped Tesla as a customer the following year after becoming unhappy with how Tesla was using its products.

Openpilot Development

Comma's first attempts to sell plug-in devices evaporated after NHTSA began asking questions in 2016. The company then posted its openpilot software and hardware plans to GitHub, allowing anyone to build the devices themselves. Initially, the Comma Neo and OpenPilot supported a single Acura and a single Honda model. By 2020, the company's software and $999 device were rated more highly by Consumer Reports than any OEM system.