Jiushi Autonomous Delivery Vehicle Dragged Fallen Electric Scooter in Xianyang
A Jiushi autonomous delivery vehicle operated for express delivery failed to detect and avoid a fallen electric scooter at an intersection in Xianyang, China on April 8, 2025, dragging it while continuing at normal speed. The manufacturer acknowledges the vehicle's perception system needs improvement in identifying sideways-fallen obstacles, though it reports the safety systems functioned as designed.
What happened
On April 8, 2025, a Jiushi autonomous delivery vehicle operated by ZhongTong Express was conducting a delivery run on Fengzhi North Road in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province when it encountered a fallen electric scooter at an intersection.
At 9:11:41 a.m., the vehicle's left front wheel struck and became wedged with the front wheel of the downed scooter. The autonomous vehicle failed to detect the obstacle before impact and did not maintain reduced speed after the collision. At 9:11:44 a.m., the vehicle detected the collision and briefly decelerated, but then resumed normal driving speed while dragging the scooter, continuing through the intersection.
Reported impact
No injuries were reported. The incident was recorded by witnesses and published on social media at 9:22 a.m., raising public concerns about the safety of autonomous delivery vehicles.
Index analysis
Jiushi Intelligent Technology Company stated that the vehicle's perception system had identified the abnormal road condition before the incident, but the system's ability to classify the morphological characteristics of a sideways-fallen electric scooter required optimization.
The company reported that the hardware safety module functioned normally and triggered three-level braking response after the left front wheel made contact, meeting preset safety standards. The company is conducting multi-dimensional scenario replication testing with third-party technical institutions.
Governance controls
The affected vehicle was suspended from operations and is cooperating with traffic police investigations. Jiushi Intelligent Technology Company stated it would work with regulatory authorities at the highest standard and fulfill corporate responsibility to improve the autonomous driving system's scenario adaptation capability.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.