A robotaxi operated by Baidu’s Apollo Go service fell into a deep construction pit in Chongqing, China while carrying a passenger. The incident took place earlier this week, and was reported by outlets including the Southern Metropolis Daily and Huashang Newspaper. The passenger, a woman, was not injured and was rescued by nearby residents using a ladder, the reports said.
Footage circulating on Chinese social media showed a white vehicle with the Baidu Apollo logo resting at the bottom of what appeared to be a construction trench. A local shop owner told Huashang Newspaper that the site had barriers and warning signs in place, though it remains unclear how the vehicle ended up bypassing these safety measures.
This is not the first safety-related incident linked to Apollo Go. Earlier this year, Business Insider reported that one of its autonomous taxis nearly crashed during service, prompting a remote safety driver to disengage the autonomous system and manually complete the trip. Another incident in July involved a pedestrian being struck by an Apollo Go robotaxi. These cases, along with the latest mishap, have fuelled ongoing debate over the safety of robotaxi operations.
Baidu operates one of the largest autonomous vehicle fleets in China, running commercial robotaxi services in several cities including Wuhan, Beijing, and Chongqing. The company has also been pushing for international expansion, recently partnering with U.S. ride-hailing platforms Uber and Lyft, and is reportedly considering Malaysia and Singapore as future Apollo Go markets.
(Source: Reuters / Shanghai Daily)
