One BMW spokesperson said: "We are currently investigating the exact circumstances. Naturally, we are in close contact with the authorities. One thing is already clear: The BMW vehicle involved was not an autonomous driving vehicle."

Maybe it was a vehicle with additional equipment for collection data/imagery that was still completely driven by a human driver. That would explain the stickers.

Interesting. Why would the german media censor the car brand? Arent consumers meant to know which one flopped this badly?

I doubt there is any censorship wrt that as you can see in the photo that the electric car involved is obviously a black BMW i3.

Probably for the exact reason that your comment substantiates: we have little to no reason at all to suspect the car flopped.

That still doesn’t mean the company needs to be censored? The media doesn’t answer to BMW shareholders.

My understanding is that in most of the civilized world (not in the US), the norm for media is not to report defaming information before its veracity has been established.

It’s a good thing when media shows some restraint not to make unsubstantiated claims that are impossible to fully retract in the public consciousness.

Note: This doesn’t mean media shouldn’t report on anything short of a conviction, but it probably shouldn’t report in a defaming way on something that may not even be reportable news at all (i.e. an ordinary fatal car crash)

The way facts are framed can make them dangerous nonetheless. Just because something is a fact doesn’t mean reporting it is harmless.

> The media doesn’t answer to BMW shareholders.

Oh but it does. Corruption is alive and well and often so are the laws to facilitate it.

Why would German media living of BMW ads censor BMW autonomous car accident details? Hmm, that's tough one...