It is understood that Xiaoma Zhixing is in close communication with DMV.
Author | Cheng Xi
Edit | Wen Liang
Today, it is reported that Xiaoma Zhixing is no longer in the list of fully unmanned autonomous driving test licenses on the official website of the California Traffic Management Authority (DMV), and it is related to a previous unmanned vehicle accident in California.
It is understood that the DMV fully unmanned autonomous driving test license allows players to test on the road without a safety officer in the main driver, and the list originally included eight industry leaders, such as Waymo and Cruise in the United States, as well as Baidu and Xiaoma Zhixing in China.
But the quiet "absence" of Xiaoma Zhixing can't help but make people wonder about the reasons behind it.
The new zhi driving also asked The pony zhixing for verification on this matter, and the official response was:
In a responsible and cautious manner, Xiaoma Zhixing took the initiative to suspend all unmanned tests, conducted a technical review, and communicated with regulators in a timely manner.
Proactively pause unmanned testing
At about 10:00 a.m. on October 28, when the unmanned autonomous driving test vehicle (without a safety officer) built by Xiaoma Zhixing based on the electric model kona of Hyundai Motor was conducting a road test in Fremont, California, the unmanned vehicle turned right from Cushing Pkwy Street to Fremont Avenue, and after the right turn was completed, it tried to change lanes to the left again.
During the lane change, the unmanned vehicle collided with the barrier in the middle of the road, resulting in slight damage to the front of the vehicle. Fortunately, no one was injured in the accident, nor did it involve other vehicles.
Xiaoma Zhixing told New Smart Drive that adhering to the principle of safety first, they reported to the local transportation department as soon as the accident occurred, submitted an accident report to the California Motor Vehicle Administration (DMV) within one working day, and actively suspended the unmanned test in California in order to conduct a technical review to ensure safety.
It is understood that although Xiaoma Zhixing has taken the initiative to suspend the unmanned test at present, this accident will not affect the automatic driving test process of its safety officer. The company is also in close communication with the California Motor Vehicle Administration (DMV).
Domestic testing is not affected
Although Xiaoma Zhixing's unmanned test abroad encountered a small episode, its unmanned test in China will not be greatly affected.
Xiaoma Zhixing revealed that its unmanned tests in Beijing and Guangzhou are still under normal progress; there have been no accidents during the unmanned tests before.
In May, Pony Wastrothal was approved to conduct unmanned (no safety officer in the main driver's seat) test in Irvine, California, Fremont, and Milpitas. In June and October, Xiaoma Zhixing launched unmanned testing in Guangzhou and Beijing.
Subsequently, Xiaoma Zhixing became the first autonomous driving company in China to obtain the license for unmanned testing of autonomous driving in Beijing, Guangzhou and California.
On November 25, it was approved to provide commercialized autonomous travel services to the public in Beijing, officially entering the stage of commercial model verification.
On December 5, Bobotaxi of Xiaoma Zhixing also successfully entered the Beijing-Taiwan Expressway to carry out L4 level normalized automatic driving tests; this is the first time that a national autonomous driving enterprise has conducted a high-level automatic driving test on the open highway section of the policy.
The timing of the above two major developments is later than the California accident, which also largely shows that the outside world has enough confidence in the technology of Xiaoma Zhixing and has not been affected by the accident.
On the other hand, Xiaoma Zhixing has previously expanded the operation scale of Robotaxi (main driver with safety officer) in the north, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
After gathering the three first-tier cities in the north, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the Shenzhen R&D center of Xiaoma Zhixing was also officially landed some time ago, and Xiaoma Zhixing's autonomous vehicles have driven on the streets of Shenzhen.
Up to now, the cumulative mileage of Xiaoma Zhixing's autonomous driving road test has approached 10 million kilometers.
The industry is still in a period of rapid development
At present, the autonomous driving industry is still in a period of rapid development, and the technology still needs a lot of research and development and testing to verify. Only under the premise of sufficient safety can autonomous driving truly bring greater value to people's travel and transportation.
However, any new technology is constantly maturing, and problems in the development process are inevitable.
In June, Waymo had an accident while testing Robotaxi in San Francisco, and the vehicle pressed directly onto the scooter of a passerby, and the surface of the vehicle was scratched, but fortunately no one was injured. Prior to this, Waymo had even voluntarily disclosed its crash data from the test operation of its self-driving vehicles in Phoenix. Waymo voluntarily disclosed that its self-driving car was involved in 18 collisions in 21 months, and 29 were "near accidents" (in the simulator). The report is also the industry's first accident report.
In addition to Waymo, in September this year, Apple hit a curb while conducting unmanned car tests in Silicon Valley, and the bumper was slightly damaged, and no one was injured.
It can be seen that the development of new things will always encounter some setbacks, but the safety of automatic driving itself will also become higher and higher with the improvement of technology.
At the same time, regulatory standards on safety will also be improved. At present, the domestic policy support for automatic driving is very strong, such as allowing phased unmanned testing and commercial trial operation, which will promote the efficient and orderly development of China's autonomous driving industry.
Until this day finally arrives, the general trend of autonomous driving will not change, and the industry and the public should objectively look at the problems arising in the development process.
The accident of the Pony Zhixing unmanned vehicle did not injure anyone and did not have contact with any vehicle pedestrians, but out of caution, it still chose to actively suspend the test. Accidents have already occurred, but the attitude of handling accidents and the thinking left for the industry after the accident are more worthy of attention.
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