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fliptop [soylentnews.org] writes:

As a group of journalists gathered in the Dominican Republic to report on the self-parking Volvo XC60 [independent.co.uk] (video of accident available), the group watched as the car reversed itself, then drove into the crowd at speed:

The accident may have happened because owners have to pay for a special feature known as "pedestrian detection functionality," which costs extra. The cars do have auto-braking features as standard, but only for avoiding other cars — if they are to avoid crashing into pedestrians, too, then owners must pay extra.

"It appears as if the car in this video is not equipped with Pedestrian detection," Volvo spokesperson Johan Larsson told Fusion [fusion.net]. "This is sold as a separate package."

The pedestrian detection feature, which works using radar behind the grill and a camera in the windshield, costs approximately $3000. The two men injured in the accident were bruised but otherwise OK.

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Original Submission