The Chinese government is testing more self-driving cars than any other country, but state media rarely reports on crashes or incidents and online posts are censored, the report said.
The city of Wuhan in China has about 500 self-driving robot taxis, and it has been announced that another 1,000 will be added in the future. Keith Bradsher, a reporter for the New York Times, visited Wuhan to report on how the robot taxis are being operated.
China Is Testing More Driverless Cars Than Any Other Country - The New York Times
Driverless Cars in China: How Safe Are They? - The New York Times
More than 16 cities in China have allowed driverless cars to be tested on public roads, and at least 19 automakers and suppliers are competing to operate driverless cars. Baidu has about 500 robot taxis in Wuhan.
Robot taxis are primarily unmanned, but there have been reports of accidents caused by the lack of a driver. In one case in San Francisco, California, the company that operated the robot taxi had to temporarily suspend testing on public roads after a collision with a human.
Surveys suggest that Chinese people are more likely to trust the computers in self-driving cars than Americans, and Bradsher quotes local testimony: 'One grocery store owner in Wuhan said he didn't think there was any need to worry too much about safety.'
On the other hand, some believe the government is limiting discussion of safety incidents and accidents involving self-driving cars to quell public fears about the technology.
On April 26, 2024, a driver of an AITO M7 Plus car equipped with advanced driver assistance functions crashed into a car in Shanxi Province. A video was circulated in which a woman claimed that her husband, brother, and son had been killed, but the post was quickly deleted. The results of a long-term investigation into the safety of driver assistance systems, published in connection with this incident by a Chinese media outlet, also disappeared within a few days. According to Bradsher, state media refrained from reporting on the accident for nine days after it occurred.
It has also been reported that a news agency in Hainan province reported how a Xiaomi SU7 electric sedan equipped with an advanced driver assistance system became uncontrollable and accelerated, killing one person and injuring three. Xiaomi then immediately issued a statement saying that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle that was hit. However, articles were published denying this statement, but the denials were quickly deleted.
'In China, the government strongly supports self-driving technology and strictly limits public information about accidents,' Bradsher said. 'A similar accident in the United States would likely attract significant attention, but in China there would be far less official scrutiny.'
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