According to reports from several Chinese media outlets, a driverless taxi under Baidu’s “Apollo Go” service recently crashed into a construction pit about three meters deep while transporting passengers in Chongqing.
The incident occurred on Wednesday, August 6. Media such as “Southern Metropolis Daily” and “Huashang Bao” reported that although the female passenger in the vehicle was not injured, she had to be rescued with the help of local residents using a ladder.
Verified social media videos by Reuters show a white vehicle with the Baidu Apollo logo overturning into the narrow construction pit. “Huashang Bao” quoted a nearby shop owner as saying that there were guardrails and warning signs at the construction site, but it remains unclear how the vehicle bypassed these safety measures and ended up in the pit. As of Friday, Baidu has not responded to media requests for comments.
The accident has sparked discussions on Chinese social media, bringing the safety of driverless taxis back into the spotlight. Some netizens even joked that this incident confirms the saying “for every turnip, there’s a pit.” Baidu currently operates the largest autonomous driving fleet in China, with commercial operations in cities like Wuhan, Beijing, and Chongqing. The company also plans to expand into the international market and has signed cooperation agreements with US ride-hailing platforms like Uber and Lyft.
The “Apollo Go” service is said to have 46 safety features, but this incident has raised doubts about the effectiveness of its safety protocols.
In May of this year, Chinese competitor Pony.ai drew attention when one of its vehicles caught fire on a street in Beijing. The company later explained that the fire occurred while the vehicle was being operated by maintenance personnel due to a system malfunction, and there were no passengers on board at the time.
It is worth noting that according to recent comprehensive assessments by the US Consumer Reports and tech media outlet TechCrunch on major global autonomous driving systems, while Tesla’s Robotaxi and Full Self-Driving (FSD) functions have faced controversies over safety and regulatory issues, their autonomous driving technology maturity and market utilization are still widely regarded as leading globally.
In June, a Tesla Model Y successfully completed a full delivery from the Texas factory to a user’s home in Austin without any human intervention, demonstrating its high-level autonomous driving capabilities.