Emergency Vehicle Lights Can Screw Up a Car's Automated Driving System

Research indicates that flashing emergency vehicle lights can confuse vision-based object detectors used in some automated driving systems, potentially contributing to collisions; the study used off-the-shelf dashcams and open-source detectors and cautions that it is unclear whether commercial automakers use the same models. The US NHTSA investigated Tesla incidents involving emergency vehicles and has taken regulatory action, but researchers stress uncertainty about real-world applicability and the absence of confirmed exploitation.