A driverless ride-hailing automotive in China hit a pedestrian, and folks on social media are taking the carmaker’s aspect, as a result of the particular person was reportedly crossing towards the lightJuly 9, 2024, 4:23 AM ET• 2 min readBEIJING — A driverless ride-hailing automotive in China hit a pedestrian, and folks on social media are taking the carmaker’s aspect, as a result of the particular person was reportedly crossing towards the sunshine.The operator of the car, Chinese language tech large Baidu, mentioned in a press release to Chinese language media that the automotive started transferring when the sunshine turned inexperienced and had minor contact with the pedestrian. The particular person was taken to a hospital the place an examination discovered no apparent exterior accidents, Baidu mentioned.The incident on Sunday within the metropolis of Wuhan highlights the problem that autonomous driving faces in complicated conditions, the Chinese language monetary information outlet Yicai mentioned. It quoted an skilled saying the expertise might have limitations when coping with unconventional habits equivalent to different automobiles or pedestrians that violate site visitors legal guidelines.Pictures posted on-line present an individual sitting on the road in entrance of the driverless automotive with its rooftop sensors. Feedback on social media largely supported Baidu, mentioning that the pedestrian had damaged the legislation, the English-language Shanghai Every day newspaper mentioned in a put up on X.Beijing-based search-engine and synthetic intelligence firm Baidu is a frontrunner within the improvement of autonomous driving in China. Its largest “robotaxi” operation, with a fleet of 300 automobiles, is in Wuhan, a serious metropolis in central China that had the world’s first main outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020.Apollo Go, because the ride-hailing service known as, additionally operates in additional restricted components of three different Chinese language cities — Beijing, Shenzhen and Chongqing. The corporate launched the sixth-generation of its driverless taxi in Might, saying it had introduced the unit value down by greater than half to below $30,000.