What happened

A Level 4 autonomous vehicle, identified as a Baidu Apollo RT6 model operating under Hellobike's "Hello Autonomous Driving" moniker, collided with two pedestrians shortly after passing a marked crosswalk. 

The collision resulted in severe physical injuries. One victim, a man, was trapped beneath the vehicle, while a woman was thrown nearby. Footage from the scene showed bystanders attempting to lift the car to free the trapped victim, who was visibly bleeding. 

Both individuals were hospitalised in intensive care at the Hunan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Local authorities suspended all robotaxi operations in Zhuzhou indefinitely. 

The incident sparked intense national debate on social media platforms regarding the readiness of "driverless" technology in dense urban environments. 

Why it happened

• Technical safety: Early reports point toward a failure in the AI system's perception or decision-making logic to safely avoid pedestrians in a high-traffic area.

• Transparency limitations: The incident highlights the "black box" nature of autonomous decision-making. Hellobike, an Alibaba-affiliated company, was using third-party hardware and software from Baidu (Apollo RT6). This fragmentation of responsibility can obscure accountability, determining whether the fault lay with Baidu’s core AI, Hellobike’s operational parameters, or the city’s infrastructure.

• Overly-aggressive expansion: Just days before the crash, Hellobike had announced ambitious plans to deploy 50,000 robotaxis by 2027. Critics argue that the rush to achieve mass production may have outpaced the rigorous safety validation required for unpredictable pedestrian behaviour.