technology
Ministers Signal Support for Law Change Allowing Delivery Robots on England Pavements
The government plans to update rules on micromobility vehicles to permit low-speed autonomous delivery robots on pavements. Safety groups have raised concerns about congestion and pedestrian risks. Starship Technologies seeks to expand its fleet if the change proceeds.
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Ministers have indicated they are likely to back changes to the 1835 Highways Act that would allow low-speed autonomous delivery robots on pavements across England. The Department for Transport is leading the effort to place the devices in the same regulatory category as e-scooters.
The Guardian reported that the robots, made by Starship Technologies, already operate in Cambridge, Bristol, Milton Keynes, Sheffield, Leeds and Barnsley.
The box-shaped, white, six-wheeled machines mainly deliver groceries and takeaway food but currently function in a regulatory grey area. Starship Technologies, founded by two Skype co-founders and based in San Francisco, has said it hopes to sell at least 10,000 robots into England and open a UK manufacturing site if the law is clarified.
The company has described itself as owning robot delivery in the European urban market.
A government spokesperson stated that innovation can boost the economy but that pedestrian and vulnerable road user safety must come first. The spokesperson added that the law for delivery robots will be updated as soon as parliamentary time allows and after public consultation. Living Streets has written to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander urging caution.
The charity is launching a Pavement Overload campaign and has released a video showing robots bumping into pedestrians or forcing them aside. In Sheffield, the group said a Starship hub was installed at a scout hut without informing the council or local residents.
