Driverless delivery vans in China have gone viral online for all the wrong reasons. Videos show the autonomous vehicles struggling on roads and creating chaos during their routes.
Clips shared on social media reveal the vans driving through fresh concrete, getting stuck on broken streets, and even continuing to move with a motorcycle trapped under a wheel arch. In each case, the vehicles appear to keep going despite obstacles.
The footage has sparked jokes online, with captions like “Nothing stops them” as viewers question the vans’ ability to handle unexpected situations.
These vehicles are part of China’s fast-growing autonomous delivery network. Major logistics firms such as ZTO Express and J&T Express have deployed thousands of driverless vans in recent years. They are mainly used for short routes between delivery hubs and neighborhood drop-off points.
Most vans rely on cameras, radar, and pre-mapped routes rather than full self-driving systems. Human operators can intervene remotely if problems occur, but the viral clips suggest some errors still happen.
China promotes autonomous delivery to address labor shortages and meet rising demand. However, the recent incidents highlight the challenges of making driverless technology safe and reliable on real-world roads.
The companies involved have not issued official statements, and it remains unclear if the incidents caused damage or required manual recovery.
