What happens when a self-driving truck suffers a blowout?

A powerful new video dramatically illustrates the potential safety benefits of autonomous driving technology.

The video, released by California-based self-driving trucking company Kodiak Robotics, demonstrates what happens when a self-driving Class 8 truck – a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 33,000 pounds – suffers a potentially damaging tire blowout.

The truck is fitted with the Kodiak Driver, the company’s purpose-built technology stack, which makes use of lidar, radar and cameras, combined with mapping, to deliver self-driving functionality.

The video, shot at Kodiak’s proving ground in West Texas, shows the truck – which although driving itself, has a safety operator in the cabin –rolling over a test rig which punctures the front driver-side tire. Despite the fact the tire is destroyed, the autonomous tech ensures the vehicle does not lose control and safely comes to a stop while remaining in its lane.

According to Kodiak, tire blowouts are among the most significant safety scares a truck can typically face. Under normal circumstances, when a vehicle is being piloted by a human driver, a blowout can cause loss of control and potentially even put it at risk of jack-knifing.

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