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‘Technical fault’: Remote-controlled car crashes into police van in Islamabad
🇵🇰 Pakistan /Technology

‘Technical fault’: Remote-controlled car crashes into police van in Islamabad

From Dawn · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • A remote-controlled car collided with a parked police van at Islamabad’s D-Chowk after its internet connection reportedly failed.
  • Journalist Muhammad Aalijah said he filmed the vehicle to report on a technology enthusiast’s automated-driving experiment.
  • Aalijah said the video aimed to warn viewers that the system was not yet completely safe or reliable, while social media users circulated jokes about the crash.

A remote-controlled car being demonstrated in Islamabad lost control after an apparent internet disruption and bumped into a police van, producing a video that quickly spread across social media.

Everything was fine until a technical fault occurred due to an internet disruption, causing the car to go out of control and crash into a police vehicle.

— Muhammad AalijahThe journalist explained how the remote-controlled vehicle lost control during the demonstration.

Journalist Muhammad Aalijah uploaded the footage on Sunday from D-Chowk. He appears in the front passenger seat as the car moves forward and he explains its features. The remotely controlled steering wheel then veers out of control. Aalijah pulls the handbrake, but cannot stop the car before it hits the parked police vehicle.

Aalijah told Dawn that technology enthusiast Ehsan Zafar of Abbottabad had asked him to report on the automated-driving innovation. “Everything was fine until a technical fault occurred due to an internet disruption, causing the car to go out of control and crash into a police vehicle,” he said.

The sole purpose was to raise awareness and urge people to remain cautious until any new experiment or technology has been thoroughly tested, proven safe and established as a complete success.

— Muhammad AalijahAalijah said his follow-up post was intended as a safety warning rather than an attack on the vehicle’s owner.

He later said the car operated through internet and satellite connections, and that the loss of internet service caused the collision. In a Monday social media post, Aalijah stressed that he did not intend to defame or target the young man who owned and operated the car. “The sole purpose was to raise awareness and urge people to remain cautious until any new experiment or technology has been thoroughly tested, proven safe and established as a complete success,” he wrote.

This was a message of caution, not an attempt to discredit anyone.

— Muhammad AalijahHe clarified the purpose of publishing the video and discussing the crash.

Aalijah described the system as not yet “completely safe and reliable” and said the incident took place in a high-security area with little traffic. He warned that the consequences could have been extremely dangerous, even fatal, on a busy road. Users meanwhile shared witty captions, including jokes that artificial intelligence panics when it sees police.

This video is not criticism; it is a responsible effort to raise awareness and issue a warning, by all means, experiment, but ensure safety first.

— Muhammad AalijahAalijah urged technology developers to prioritize safety during experimentation.
About this summary

Originally published by Dawn in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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