Trapped inside their own vehicles, robotaxis-autonomous passengers in , remained for more than 90 minutes when their cars suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. This is one of the most serious incidents of mass malfunction recorded at the tech giant Baidu.
According to the police of the city of Wuhan, a “system error” caused the paralysis of more than 100 autonomous vehicles of the Apollo Go service. The image of dozens of taxis standing still with their alarms on in the middle of the night quickly made the rounds on social media through photos and videos.
100 robotaxis. One highway. Zero control. Wuhan.
In a scene straight out of a disaster movie opening, over 100 robotaxis operated by Baidu suddenly froze mid highway in Wuhan, bringing traffic to a standstill.
Passengers sat trapped inside silent, unresponsive vehicles for over…
— Naresh Nambisan | Naresh (@nareshbahrain)
Concern was high as many of the vehicles came to rest in the express lanes of major thoroughfares. Official police reports started pouring in shortly before 9pm on Tuesday, describing a chaotic situation where cars refused to move. Fortunately, the passengers were eventually able to disembark safely without any injuries.
The severity of the incident is captured in dashcam video, where a driver is seen passing at least 16 stopped robotaxis in a matter of minutes, having to make last-minute maneuvers or brake sharply to avoid colliding with the stopped vehicles.
Driverless taxi malfunctioned in Wuhan with passengers trapped inside the vehicle
— @ (@anthraxxxx)
While authorities are investigating the exact cause of the system’s collapse, the incident has sparked heated debate in China about security gaps and the reliability of driverless vehicles.
