Baidu's Apollo Go Robotaxis Halt in Wuhan; 100+ Vehicles Stranded in Traffic

More than 100 Baidu robotaxis stopped simultaneously due to a system malfunction.

“Several autonomous robotaxis from the Chinese internet giant Baidu stalled in central China, stranding passengers due to an apparent 'technical fault,' police said on Wednesday”

ABC Color

Passengers were stranded for up to two hours but exited safely.

ABC Color

At least three collisions occurred with traditional vehicles.

This marks the first mass shutdown of robotaxis in China.

Passengers were trapped inside vehicles for extended periods without clear communication.

In-car SOS buttons were unavailable and customer service calls disconnected.

Automotive World

One passenger was still charged the full fare.

This highlights operational vulnerabilities beyond the driving tech.

The outage reignited debate over robotaxi safety in China.

“- Published A mass robotaxi outage in the Chinese city of Wuhan caused at least a hundred self-driving cars to stop mid-traffic, sparking renewed debate around the safety of driverless vehicles”

BBC

Previous incidents included a vehicle running over pedestrians and a robotaxi falling into a pit.

Baidu and partners continue to expand robotaxi testing globally.

Ensuring reliability remains paramount as systems move to commercial deployment.