GPS readings off by 33 feet threaten to crash self-driving cars

Scientists are warning that solar storms pose a dangerous and underappreciated threat to self-driving cars after a powerful space weather event last November threw GPS readings off by as much as 33 feet — a margin large enough to send an autonomous vehicle into oncoming traffic or off the road entirely, according to Futurism.

The storm, described as the strongest in over two decades, unleashed a barrage of charged particles that collided with Earth’s magnetosphere — wreaking havoc on GPS and communications satellites for hours. A study published in Geophysical Research Letters found that global navigation satellite systems experienced “significant positioning errors” of more than 33 feet during the event. Researchers warned the inaccuracies were “large enough to disrupt precision agriculture and autonomous transportation industries” across the continental United States.

The storm was also powerful enough to delay the launch of a NASA Mars-bound spacecraft — underscoring how broadly disruptive extreme solar activity can be across multiple technologies simultaneously. Futurism

For autonomous vehicles, where lane-level GPS precision is critical for safe navigation, a 33-foot error could prove fatal. Researchers are now calling for urgent investment in solar-resilient positioning systems before the next major storm strikes.