--- title: "Self-Driving Racecar Hits Accelerator, Immediately Crashes Into Wall" description: "A self-driving race car had a terrible start during the first-ever live broadcast of Roborace, an autonomous race car competition." date: "2020-10-30" modified: "2020-10-30" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/self-driving-racecar-immediately-crashes-into-wall" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Self-Driving Vehicles" tags: - "autonomous car" - "RoboRace" - "the digest" --- # Self-Driving Racecar Hits Accelerator, Immediately Crashes Into Wall ![A self-driving race car had a terrible start during the first-ever live broadcast of Roborace, an autonomous race car competition.]() *\Image: Roborace\* ## Turn! Turn! Talk about schadenfreude. A self-driving racecar had a terrible start during the first-ever live broadcast of Roborace, a competition in which autonomous electric racecars go head to head As soon as it started its lap, it abruptly turned right and smashed headfirst into a concrete wall, [*Car and Driver* reports](). The car, programmed by team Acronis SIT Autonomous from Switzerland, literally didn't even make it across the starting line. "That is not the start we wanted to see, guys," one of the commentators could be heard saying. "I'm kind of speechless after that," his partner said. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4fdUx6d4QM&feature=youtu.be ## Beta Indeed The event that involved the more-than-unfortunate premature collision was what Roborace is calling Season Beta, involving six teams competing in a time-trial race. Each car is physically the same, but the software it runs will vary from team to team. It's not just autonomous vehicles driving around an IRL course — Roborace has put mixed-reality obstacles on the race track that teams have to avoid or lose points. The race even includes game-like virtual collectibles. It is, however, up to the teams to decide whether to crash through virtual barriers to get a better time and soak up the penalty, or swerve around them and lose time. Acronis SIT Autonomous' car took some costly damage to the front of the vehicle, but luckily nobody was hurt — beyond some bruised egos. It's still unclear what the cause was for the SNAFU. **READ MORE:** [Watch a Self-Driving Race Car Crash before It Starts]() \[*Car and Driver*\] **More on Roborace:** *[Self-Driving Racecars Are Edging Up Toward Human Records]()* \[LOL\] ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()