Enlarge image

Police vehicle in action (symbolic image)

Photo: Gelhot / Photo Booth / IMAGO

A wrong-way driver has caused an accident with a self-driving vehicle on the Autobahn 7 in Baden-Württemberg with one fatality. The 49-year-old drove in the night to Wednesday with a work machine, which resembles luggage transport trucks at airports, the highway near Giengen against the direction of travel, as the police in Ulm announced. The vehicle is therefore not subject to registration and may not drive at more than 20 kilometers per hour.

Shortly after entering the highway, the man collided head-on with a taxi, according to the police. The 67-year-old taxi driver suffered such serious injuries that he died a short time later in hospital.

In the case of the person who caused the accident, an alcohol test on site showed a value of more than two per thousand, the police said. He was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. He is now being investigated for road traffic endangerment and negligent homicide.

wit/AFP