“Then it lurched back and forth against the side of the car, with the safety flag happily waving.”
Hit-and-Roll
In what could possibly be a world first, a pedestrian in Finland’s capital Helsinki caught a food delivery robot perpetrating an apparent hit-and-run.
The passerby, who was interviewed by Finnish news outlet Yle, saw an S Group food delivery robot as it slid off an ice and snow-covered sidewalk, damaging a car in the process.
“Then it lurched back and forth against the side of the car, with the safety flag happily waving,” the pedestrian recalled, scratching both doors.
Instead of calling the authorities and admitting to scratching up somebody’s vehicle, the six-wheeled robot took off and fled the scene as soon as the passerby placed it back onto the road.
It’s yet another instance of delivery robots causing mayhem on public streets, from getting lost in the woods and being implicated in bomb threats to plowing through a crime scene.
Bot Free
According to Yle, both of the car’s doors were damaged.
“I notified the emergency center about a ‘traffic accident,’ the good samaritan told the outlet. “The businesslike but amused emergency operator said he would notify the police. The police called, asked for identification and said that this incident was a career first.”
S Group Finland’s food store chain S-kaupat teamed up with Starship Technologies, one of the biggest delivery robot companies, last year. Customers can access the service via a smartphone app.
The company is now investigating the incident. Hopefully it’ll catch the culprit and bring it to justice.
More on delivery robots: University Warns of Bomb Threat Involving Delivery Robots
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