Mazda self-drives away after minor accident on Tampines Road, owner runs after it in vain

Woman tries running after self-driving Mazda after minor accident

While self-driving cars seem like something out of a futuristic sci-fi movie, there are more of them on the roads than you might think.

As cool and convenient as they might seem, they can cause quite a bit of trouble if you’re not careful.

A lady who accidentally rear-ended another vehicle on Tampines Road experienced this on Thursday (22 Feb) morning.

After she got out of her car to inspect the damage, the other driver decided to move his Mercedes to the other side of the road.

However, the woman forgot to disable the autopilot function or put on the brakes on her Mazda, which promptly drove away by itself.

Self-driving Mazda rear-ends Mercedes on Tampines Road

A video of the incident was posted on the SG Road Vigilante Facebook page on Thursday (22 Feb).

The caption states that it took place at 9am that morning on Tampines Road.

According to the person who submitted the recording, the Mazda had just rear-ended the Mercedes and the owner of the latter had gotten out to take some photos.

He then got back into his car to move it to the side of the road.

However, as he did so, the Mazda started to slide forward.

The Mercedes driver did not seem to notice it and kept moving his car forward.

Eventually, there was enough room for the “self-driving” Mazda to head on its way — with its hapless owner running alongside it.

She then stopped by the side of the road, hands on her hips, as her Mazda rolled off into the distance.

Mazda keeps going until it reaches curb

The rogue Mazda mounted the road divider for a short while but that wasn’t enough to stop it as it continued cruising towards the main road.

Its autonomous joyride went on for a few more seconds before it mounted yet another kerb.

Finally, the Mazda came to a halt.

It’s unclear what happened after that as the camcar that recorded the whole incident had driven off.

Commenters relieved there were no injuries

The comments were a mixed bag of jokes, condemnation, and concern.

Many found the scene humorous, with one user pointing out that it reminded him of the classic British sitcom ‘Mr Bean’.

Another praised the Mazda for being ‘considerate’ enough to drive away and park in a “safe place to prevent traffic jam”.

Meanwhile, one netizen said that no matter how shocked the Mazda driver was after the accident, she should have immediately put the gear into “P” and pulled the handbrake before getting out of the car.

As dangerous as the situation could’ve been, it’s fortunate that nobody got hurt in the end, as this user stated.

“Imagine if the car rolled into the traffic junction in front and hit another car, or worse, [killed] a motorcyclist,” he wrote.

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Featured image adapted from SG Road Vigilante – SGRV on Facebook.

Also read: Self-Driving Hyundai Spotted On PIE, Likely Part Of Test For Driverless Taxis