By Umar Shakir , a news writer fond of the electric vehicle lifestyle and things that plug in via USB-C. He spent over 15 years in IT support before joining The Verge.
One of Starship Technologies’ autonomous food delivery robots tripped up a school employee at Arizona State University last September. As 404 Media reports, when contacted by the police, an employee asked for the person’s info to share insurance info and to offer a few promo codes.
A police report said video footage confirmed the person’s description of the incident. They waited for a delivery robot to pass. Once they continued, the robot suddenly reversed and knocked them over before driving a short distance away and reversing to hit them again while they were on the ground. They reported lower back pain and a 4-inch cut on their arm that was treated by the local fire department.
A company spokesperson told 404 Media that the robot hit the pedestrian “at extremely low speed after detecting an oncoming vehicle.”