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Starship Technologies, the company that operate the delivery robot, disputed that account saying the robot remained nearby for approximately 10 minutes. The collision occurred at around 6 pm at the intersection of Luise and Tehnika streets in central Tallinn, according to TLT. As a result, passengers fell over.
Several bus passengers were injured in the Estonian capital this week after the driver braked sharply when a robotic courier entered a pedestrian crossing against a red light, municipal transport company Tallinn Transport (TLT) said. “After the robot was involved in the incident, it contacted the back-office team, whose task was to move the robot off the road to a safe location,” said Pepe Aaviksoo, head of operations at Starship Technologies. He said the robot waited by the curb after being moved out of the road. The Bolt delivery robot approached from Tehnika tänav and entered the crossing on a red light, the company said, citing the bus driver and other people. Up to nine people were injured, TLT said. “If a participant in a traffic accident leaves the scene without fulfilling the obligations prescribed by law, this may constitute an offense,” the TLT spokesperson said. TLT board member Andrei Novikov told ERR’s Russian service that police must establish the circumstances. The police will probably investigate why this happened,” he said. It was dark, an illuminated advertisement stood behind the traffic lights, and pedestrian and vehicle signals were in the same line of sight, he said. The robot misread the signal and detected no cars moving toward it when it decided to cross, according to his account. “There are many lessons to be learned, but exceptional situations do occur,” he told at Aktuaalne kaamera, an Estonian TV news program.
Delivery robot movements are under scrutiny in Estonia after a major collision in Tallinn. TLT alleged that the robot left before police arrived. The driver braked to prevent an accident, causing standing passengers to fall. Bus footage showed the vehicle colliding with the robot and pushing it along the road. “The bus collided with a delivery robot. The robot fled, if you can put it that way. That means it drove away after the collision. The incident is currently being investigated. The robot is at fault in any case. Aaviksoo attributed the robot’s decision to lighting conditions and its position at the crossing.
Aaviksoo said the robot’s light sensitivity had changed for an unknown reason and was not working as intended. “From our perspective, the situation was clear, as indicated by the fact that the bus left the scene and we did not detect any rescue vehicles or police at the scene,” Aaviksoo explained. Starship plans software changes to address the problem. He also explained why the company considered the situation resolved after the robot moved to the curb. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.