Baidu robotaxi falls into construction pit in China, raising safety concerns

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BEIJING (Reuters) -An autonomous vehicle operated by Baidu’s Apollo Go robotaxi service fell into a deep construction pit while carrying a passenger in southwestern China, according to local media reports.

The incident occurred on Wednesday in Chongqing, according to media outlets including the Southern Metropolis Daily and Huashang Newspaper. The female passenger was uninjured and was rescued by local residents using a ladder, the reports said.

Videos circulating on Chinese social media showed a white vehicle bearing a Baidu Apollo logo at the bottom of what appeared to be a construction trench. A local shop owner told Huashang Newspaper that the construction site had barriers and warning signs, though it remained unclear how the vehicle bypassed these safety measures.

Reuters has been able to verify the location of the social media videos, but has no information on how the car got there.

Baidu did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on Friday.

The incident sparked widespread discussion on Chinese social media over the safety of robotaxis.

Baidu operates one of China’s largest autonomous vehicle fleets and has been conducting commercial robotaxi operations in multiple cities including Wuhan, Beijing, and Chongqing.

The company has also recently pushed to expand its robotaxi service to global markets, signing partnerships with U.S. ride-hailing platforms Uber Technologies and Lyft.

In May, Chinese rival Pony.ai came under scrutiny after videos of one of its cars on fire on a road in Beijing circulated on social media. The company later said that the car caught fire while being handled by service staff after a system malfunction and that no passengers were on board.

Last year, an incident in San Francisco involving a crowd setting fire to an autonomous Waymo robotaxi which had driven into streets crowded with revellers sparked a debate about the ability of robotic cars to make judgments.

(Reporting by Liam Mo, Tiffany Le and Brenda Goh. Editing by Mark Potter)