Apple Self-Driving Car Needed a Realignment After Clipping Curb in Autonomous Mode

One of Apple's self-driving test vehicles was involved in a minor incident on September 27, according to a filing made with the California DMV [PDF].

applelexusselfdriving1
The self-driving vehicle, which was operating in autonomous mode at the time, clipped a curb while going 13 miles per hour. There was no damage reported, but the car did require a realignment.

A test vehicle, operating in autonomous mode in Sunnyvale and turning right from Mathilda Avenue onto Del Ray Avenue, made contact with a curb at approximately 13 miles per hour. While there was no tire or wheel damage, the contact resulted in misalignment. No other agents were involved, no injuries were reported, and law enforcement was not called to the scene.

The incident occurred when the vehicle was turning right from Mathilda Avenue onto Del Ray Avenue, a location that is right near Apple's Mathilda Avenue location.

Apple's self-driving vehicles have been involved in several very minor accidents, but most have been caused by other drivers and while not in autonomous mode. This is the second event that has occurred where an Apple vehicle was being operated in autonomous mode.

Apple has been testing its self-driving software since early 2017, using the aforementioned Lexus RX 450h vehicles outfitted with sensors and cameras in the area around its Cupertino campuses. The work on autonomous driving is part of Apple's longtime car project, and rumors suggest Apple is planning to release a vehicle in the mid to late 2020s.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
iphone 17 dummies sonny dickson

iPhone 17 Air Almost as Thin as Its Buttons, New Images Show

Thursday April 24, 2025 2:14 am PDT by
If you missed the video showing dummy models of Apple's all-new super thin iPhone 17 Air that's expected later this year, Sonny Dickson this morning shared some further images of the device in close alignment with the other dummy models in the iPhone 17 lineup, indicating just how thin it is likely to be in comparison. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...

Top Rated Comments

KurtWilde Avatar
46 months ago
something no driver operated car has ever done
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
46 months ago

But people do it all the time
But these are the types of things autonomous vehicles are supposed to fix
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
davidjschloss Avatar
46 months ago

Imagine if there was a kid there.
It said it hit the curb, not that it jumped the curb. It also clearly misidentified the curb, there's no indication that if a person was there the system would't have seen that.

But in any case, you can't what if this. What if it wasn't an Apple car but a distracted driver?

I'm too lazy to look up the data for car v pedestrian injuries per vehicle mile, or even a guess for how often someone hits a curb where someone *might* be, but my town just installed a traffic calming island near a school so it's safer for pedestrians to cross in front of human drivers. So no matter the scenario, autonomous cars are going to be safer than human-driven ones.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cpragman Avatar
46 months ago
My car needed an alignment after sliding into a curb at low speed on an icy day. Why is this news?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KurtWilde Avatar
46 months ago

Even though it's an incredibly minor incident, hitting the curb seems like something that should be very easy to avoid.
But people do it all the time
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nvmls Avatar
46 months ago
Still better than humans interacting with phones while driving.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)