Toyota-backed Chinese autonomous driving company, Pony.ai had one of its driverless vehicles in California involved in a crash due to a possible misreading of the road markings. The driverless car crashed into a road center divider and this has seemingly resulted in the suspension of Pony.ai’s driverless testing permit in California with immediate effect.
The suspension of Pony.ai’s driverless testing permit came a few weeks after the collision of the driverless car which fortunately did not result in any injuries or damage to other vehicles. The crash happened in October while the suspension was made last month after the accident report was filed with the regulator. It is unclear what aspect of the crash report is directly linked with the suspension of the driverless permit. Pony.ai in a statement said that it will work with the state regulator to figure out what caused the crash.
Pony.ai will however continue testing the vehicles in California with a safety driver behind the wheels. The suspended driverless permit was only valid for three cities in California and it was obtained about 6 months ago. California is a fertile ground for autonomous vehicle testing permits and eight companies had already secured the driverless permit in the state. It is unclear what is the duration of the suspension, but Pony.ai will continue to develop its driverless capability.
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