Smart Car That Mistakenly Turned Off Headlights Sparks Safety Debate
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A Lynk & Co vehicle crashed into a highway guardrail on Feb. 25 after the car’s voice recognition system misinterpreted a command to turn off interior reading lights and instead turned off the headlights, igniting a public debate about the reliability of smart car tech.
The incident has raised public concerns over safety standards in China’s auto industry, where automakers are aggressively replacing physical buttons with smart cockpits to highlight high-tech features. The crash underscores the potential risks of relying on software and voice assistant for critical driving functions, prompting industry experts to call for a return to physical redundancy for safety-related controls.
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- A Lynk & Co car crashed due to its voice recognition system turning off the headlights instead of interior lights, raising safety concerns about smart car technology.
- The incident prompted calls for keeping physical controls for safety-critical functions, and China’s MIIT proposed new rules mandating physical buttons for key operations.
- Lynk & Co issued a software update but did not formally recall the cars; experts argue formal recalls are needed for transparency and safety assurance.
- Lynk & Co
- Lynk & Co, a premium brand under Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., faced criticism after one of its vehicles crashed due to a voice recognition system error. The system misinterpreted a command, turning off headlights instead of interior lights. The company issued an over-the-air software update to address the issue, but some experts argue a formal recall would have been more appropriate given the safety implications.
- Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd.
- Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. is the parent company of Lynk, a premium car brand. A Lynk & Co vehicle was involved in an accident due to a misinterpreted voice command. This incident has raised concerns about smart car technology and highlighted the push for physical controls in critical driving functions.
- February 2025：
- The MIIT and the State Administration for Market Regulation released a notice on strengthening the management of market access, recalls, and software updates of intelligent connected vehicles, which includes requirements for companies to register software upgrades.
- Feb. 12, 2026：
- The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released a draft mandatory national standard to prohibit pure touch-screen controls for gear shifting and require independent physical buttons for various essential vehicle functions.
- Feb. 25, 2026：
- A Lynk & Co vehicle crashed into a highway guardrail after the car's voice recognition system misinterpreted a command and turned off the headlights.
- Feb. 26, 2026：
- Mu Jun, a sales executive at Lynk, apologized on social media and announced that the company had completed a software optimization via an over-the-air update to change how headlights can be turned off.
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