An AI-equipped tram in St Petersburg crashed during a test run when its AI system suddenly turned off and both primary and emergency brakes failed, injuring several pedestrians including one woman who became trapped under the tram.
A £1.7 million 'Smart Tram' equipped with a Russian-designed AI driver assistance system crashed during a test run in St Petersburg, Russia. The tram was developed by AI Cognitive Technologies, headed by entrepreneur Olga Ushkova, as part of plans for a driverless tram revolution. During the test run with an experienced 45-year-old driver who had never had an accident before, the AI system suddenly 'turned off' and the brakes failed. When the driver noticed cars changing lanes and attempted to reduce speed, the primary brakes were ineffective, and the emergency brakes also failed to work properly. The tram slowed but not sufficiently as traffic lights turned yellow then red. Several pedestrians were already crossing when the driver sounded the horn, and the tram struck multiple people. One woman was mowed down and became trapped under the tram's wheels. The hi-tech trams were manufactured by UralTransMash to look like Soviet-era models, with 76 being produced for St Petersburg. Following the incident, city authorities announced an expert commission probe and launched a criminal case for violation of traffic rules and operation of transport vehicles.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
AI systems that fail to perform reliably or effectively under varying conditions, exposing them to errors and failures that can have significant consequences, especially in critical applications or areas that require moral reasoning.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Unintentional
Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Pre-deployment
Occurring before the AI is deployed