Wuhan: Hundreds of driverless taxis are stranded in the middle of the roads in China. More than 100 self-driving taxis (robotaxi) operated by Baidu stalled on several streets in Wuhan, China, after experiencing system failures.
According to Thai News Agency, videos circulating online in China show over 100 self-driving taxis (robotaxi) operated by Baidu stalled on several streets in Wuhan, China, on Tuesday night, nearly causing accidents. Many vehicles came to a standstill in heavy traffic, including on elevated highways and expressways, causing severe congestion. Additionally, some passengers were trapped inside the stalled vehicles, some for nearly two hours before being rescued. Although the doors could be opened from the inside, many passengers were hesitant to get out because the cars were stopped in the middle of busy roads, so they called the police for help.
Police stated that the reason hundreds of self-driving taxis stalled in the middle of the road was due to a system malfunction. Meanwhile, industry sources speculate that it may have been caused by a faulty automatic safety monitoring mechanism due to some external factor, causing multiple vehicles to enter a safety shutdown mode simultaneously.
Recently, Apollo Go's self-driving taxis, operated by Baidu, have resumed normal service in Wuhan. However, this incident has sparked renewed concerns about the reliability of autonomous driving systems.