ComfortDelGro Self-Driving Car Incident During Punggol Testing

SINGAPORE: A self-driving vehicle operated by ComfortDelGro (CDG) collided with a road divider while undergoing testing in Punggol on Saturday (Jan 17). Responding to CNA queries on Sunday, the transport operator said the vehicle was undergoing routine mapping and familiarisation at about 3.10pm on Saturday at Edgedale Plains when it “detected a small object on the road and responded accordingly”. “The safety operator on board proceeded to take over the steering of the vehicle manually. Unfortunately, the vehicle collided with the road divider during the manual takeover,” said CDG. It added that there were no passengers on board, and no one was hurt in the incident. The company also said that its self-driving vehicles will take a safety timeout, while the company reviews the incident in coordination with the relevant authorities. The self-driving car’s front bumper appeared to have sustained damage in a photo circulating on social media. The incident comes after CDG said last month it expected to begin trials of five five-seater autonomous vehicle (AV) shuttles in early 2026. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) told CNA it had been informed of the incident by CDG. LTA said the transport operator had commenced the road testing of its vehicle on Dec 15, 2025 with a safety operator and no passengers on board, so as to "calibrate sensors to local operating conditions". The authority added that it will work with CDG to review the incident thoroughly, and that CDG will take a safety timeout.