Chinese public transport to get rules governing self-driving vehicles

Chinese companies in the public transport sector might soon be able to use autonomous vehicles, based on a set of drafted rules that the country’s Ministry of Transportation released on Monday, according to a Reuters report.

Self-driving vehicles will see potential use in “easily controlled scenarios in low traffic situations” the rules say. The draft has been online in an effort to solicit the public’s advice and suggestions.

The Ministry of Transportation in its rules said that it expected the transportation companies to stick to the principles of the draft rules “safety as the top priority.”

In China, Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen have given access to Baidu, Pony.ai and other to use their robotaxi  services even in restricted areas, signalling a move towards better adoption of the technology. 

Baidu announced on August 8 that it had successfully gained permission from the government to operate its driverless robotaxi services in Chongquing and in Wuhan, Reuters reported.

The number of such cars in the city will be very low, at least initially. The company will be sending out five driverless cars between 9 am to 5 pm in Wuhan and from 9:30 am to 4:30 om in Chonquing, according to a statement from Baidu. 

While the United States have been working on self-driving technology in the past two decades, China has been quickly catching up in an effort to be the first ones to commercialise the concept successfully. Already, the US has seen incidents where the loss of control of a self-driving vehicle has killed or injured people as well as caused accidents.

However, some US states have allowed self-driving trucking companies to operate without human drivers, according to a Reuters report. General Motors, the car company has managed to gain permission for their self-driving unit Cruise to charging passengers for driverless rides, in the state of California.