News
Self-driving shuttle hits road divider in Punggol while doing road tests, no passengers on board
No one was injured.
January 18, 2026, 11:18 AM
An autonomous shuttle car operated by ComfortDelGro (CDG) and Pony.ai was spotted with its front bumper damaged after colliding into a road divider along Edgedale Plains, a residential estate in Punggol.
The accident happened on Jan. 17, just days after residents in Punggol were invited to try out the driverless shuttle service in the area in a trial run.
CDG and Pony.ai's autonomous vehicles will serve Route 2 in north-east Punggol, and are still in the early stages of preparation.
A photo of the car was posted on Facebook with its front bumper broken, next to an HDB carpark.
In another photo uploaded on SG Road Vigilante's Facebook group, said to be of the same car, the car appears to be towed by a lorry on the road.
No passengers were on board the car during the accident, and no one was hurt, a CDG spokesperson told Mothership.
What happened?
At around 3:10pm that day, the autonomous vehicle was undergoing routine mapping and familiarisation at Edgedale Plains when it detected a small object on the road, the CDG spokesperson explained.
The safety operator on board proceeded to take over the steering of the vehicle manually.
Unfortunately, during the manual takeover, the vehicle collided with the road divider.
"Our vehicles will take a safety timeout while we review the matter as part of our standard protocols and in coordination with the relevant authorities," the spokesperson added.
In response to Mothership's queries, a spokesperson from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) affirmed CDG's statement.
They said LTA was informed by CDG that the car was undergoing road tests when it had a minor collision with a road divider.
CDG had commenced the road testing of its vehicle on Dec. 15, 2025, with a safety operator and no passengers on board.
This phase of testing is to calibrate sensors to local operating conditions, the LTA spokesperson added.
LTA will work with CDG to thoroughly review the incident.
Top images from SGRV Front Man/Facebook and Alvin Teo/Facebook
