A delivery robot ran onto a pedestrian crossing against a red light in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, on Monday evening, leaving up to nine bus passengers injured after the driver braked sharply.
The robot entered a crossing against the lights, forcing a bus driver to brake sharply; Starship Technologies, the company behind the delivery robots, has opened an investigation and changed their route.
The incident happened at the junction of Luise and Tehnika streets in the city’s Kristiine district. The robot was travelling from Tehnika Street when it entered the crossing, according to Tallinn City Transport.
The bus driver spotted the danger and hit the brakes to prevent a more serious accident. Passengers standing on board fell.
But the robot did not stay to explain itself. Andrei Novikov, a member of Tallinn City Transport’s management board, told ETV+, the Russian-language channel of the Estonian Public Broadcasting, that the bus had collided with the machine and that it drove away afterwards.
“The robot fled, if you can put it that way,” he said. “The incident is being investigated.”
Tallinn city buses; the image is illustrative. Photo by Transport for Tallinn.
Police said they had not been called to the scene at the time and had no further information. Starship Technologies, which operates the delivery robots, said it had contacted the Police and Border Guard Board and launched its own investigation.
Robot taken off the route
Starship has rerouted its robots while it examines what happened. They will not cross the junction during the investigation – a detour that should, at least, keep the traffic lights out of the robot’s immediate plans.
Pepe Aaviksoo, Starship’s head of operations, said the incident was “extremely regrettable” and that safety was the company’s top priority.
He said such incidents were rare. Starship’s robots operate in seven countries and have completed 11 million autonomous deliveries, travelling 24 million kilometres. They had crossed this particular junction successfully more than 4,000 times, he added.
A child and a Starship delivery robot in Tallinn, Estonia. Photo by Renee Altrov.
That impressive track record will be little consolation to the injured passengers. The bus driver, meanwhile, was praised by Tallinn City Transport for reacting to the danger.
Starship said it would comment further once the circumstances had been established. For now, the robot’s route has been changed – and the crossing can enjoy a little less company.
