Self-driving taxi accident in China sparks debate about challenges of autonomous driving technology

BEIJING: A self-driving taxi made by Chinese technology giant Baidu Inc. recently hit a pedestrian in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, sparking heated discussions about the challenges and limitations of autonomous driving technology, especially in complex scenarios.

The commercial use of robot taxis in more and more cities across the country has also raised concerns about employment: Taxi drivers fear losing their jobs in the face of increasing competition from self-driving ride-sharing vehicles, industry experts say.

Their comments came after a video posted on social media platforms showed a person sitting on the road next to an autonomous vehicle. The car started moving when the light turned green and had a minor collision with the pedestrian, Baidu said. The person was taken to a hospital, where an examination found no visible external injuries.

Beijing-based Baidu has invested heavily in developing self-driving technologies and currently has fully driverless robotaxis operating in certain areas of Beijing, Chongqing, Wuhan and Shenzhen in Guangdong province.

Wuhan is stepping up its efforts to advance the development of intelligent connected vehicles and the commercialization of autonomous driving technology, and has the largest deployment area of ​​Baidu’s autonomous ride-sharing platform Apollo Go.

Baidu has more than 500 robotaxis in operation in Wuhan and expects to increase that number to 1,000 by the end of 2024. In addition, the company plans to expand its fleet and operational area nationwide and build the world’s largest ride-sharing zone for fully autonomous vehicles.

Zhang Xiang, an automotive researcher at North China University of Technology, said the Wuhan incident shows that while autonomous driving technology has made significant progress in recent years, it still faces difficulties in complicated and constantly changing road conditions.

When it comes to unconventional behavior, such as when drivers or pedestrians ignore traffic rules, the technology faces certain limitations, he added.

Mr Zhang said that ensuring the safety and stability of robotaxis remains a top priority, and that further efforts are needed to improve autonomous driving testing and application scenarios, continuously optimize algorithms, reduce the manufacturing costs of self-driving vehicle components – such as lidar sensor systems – and advance the construction of intelligent transportation infrastructure.

“It is expected to take at least 10 years for the large-scale commercialization of fully driverless robotaxis to become a reality, with first- and second-tier cities taking the lead in implementing autonomous ride-sharing pilot projects,” Mr Zhang added.

The Beijing municipal government recently announced plans to support the use of autonomous vehicles in urban electric public bus services, ride-sharing services and car rental services.

So far, more than 20 cities nationwide have introduced policies to support autonomous driving tests, and more than 60 companies have obtained self-driving car testing licenses.

However, there are still some obstacles to integrating self-driving vehicles into the existing traffic safety management system because the legal obligations of relevant stakeholders related to autonomous vehicles have not been clarified in current laws and regulations, said Huang Jinjing, head of the regulatory office at the Traffic Safety Research Center of the Ministry of Public Security.

The increasing popularity of robotaxis in China has also led to complaints from taxi drivers, who fear that their jobs could be replaced by self-driving ride-sharing cars, as robotaxis’ fares are typically lower than those of traditional taxis.

Mr Pan Helin, a member of the Information and Communications Industry Expert Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said: “At present, self-driving cars do not pose a challenge to the traditional taxi sector because people have only recently become willing to try this new technology. Moreover, the number of robot taxis on the streets is still far fewer than that of taxis.”

He pointed out that the pressure on taxi drivers is mainly due to the intense competition between private ride-sharing services and traditional taxis. He added that the autonomous vehicles will not have a serious impact on the labor market and will not replace human drivers in the short term.

The development of the autonomous driving industry will drive the intelligent transformation of the automobile industry, boost sales of vehicle-mounted equipment, and accelerate the construction of vehicle-road coordination systems that support the transmission of information from vehicles to road networks, thereby improving traffic efficiency, he added.

According to the Electric Vehicle Outlook report by research firm BloombergNEF, China will operate the world’s largest robotaxi fleet with about 12 million self-driving vehicles by 2040, followed by the United States with about 7 million such vehicles. CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK