Pony.ai voluntarily pauses driverless autonomous testing in California

Beijing (Gasgoo)- China's leading autonomous driving company Pony.ai was found absent from the list of Driverless Testing Permits issued by the California DMV, local media Sina Technology reported.

Photo credit: Pony.ai

The said permits were originally granted to eight companies in the autonomous driving field, including US companies Waymo, Cruise, NURO, and ZOOX, as well as Chinese companies Baidu's Apollo, Pony.ai, WeRide, and AutoX.

According to the Autonomous Vehicle Collision Reports webpage of the California DMV, Pony.ai has filed a collision report. The report shows that "On October 28, 2021, after turning right onto Fremont Blvd from Cushing Pkwy, the Pony.ai Autonomous Vehicle ("Pony.ai AV") performed a left lane change maneuver in autonomous mode. While performing the lane change, the Pony.ai AV came into contact with a center divider on Fremont Blvd. and the traffic sign that was posted on the divider." 

The Pony.ai AV suffered moderate damage to the front of the vehicle and the undercarriage. There were no injuries and no other vehicles involved.

Fremont Police Department were called to report the incident and the damaged street sign immediately after the incident. The company has then worked with local authorities to resolve all issues related to the damaged sign and filed the report on the next business day.

Photo credit: Pony.ai

As to the suspension of its driverless autonomous tests in California, Pony.ai said to the local media, "the company is consistent in its Safety-First principle. The previous minor incident happened during daily general tests, with no injuries and damage to other vehicles. After the incident, Pony.ai immediately reanalyzed the accident and voluntarily paused the company's driverless autonomous tests in the state. In the meantime, Pony.ai has timely reported to the state DMV and is closely cooperating with the authorities."

Although, pulling out of the driverless tests does not affect Pony.ai's autonomous driving tests with safety drivers. The company can still conduct autonomous vehicles open road tests in California as long as safety drivers are onboard.