San Francisco Restricts the Use of Delivery Robots on Its Sidewalks

[Megalith]

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has voted to require permits for any autonomous delivery devices, restricting them to specific, less-crowded areas of the city. Additionally, these robots aren't allowed to make actual deliveries. Some groups claim they pose a hazard to the elderly and young children on the city's sidewalks.

Opponents are concerned about the safety of pedestrians, particularly elderly people and children. Walk San Francisco, a group that campaigns for pedestrian safety, wanted a complete ban. A range of companies have begun trialing small robots that can deliver food and other goods. They use sensors and lasers in a similar way to self-driving cars in order to navigate their routes.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Not often happy about SF regulation, but I do gotta say that delivery robots are a bit sketchy to think about on busy streets. All you need is some old person to trip and fall as a result and that lawsuit will quickly make delivery robots not a viable option. Requiring a permit doesn't seem like a horrible idea, IMO.

 

[Joust]

It sounds like a ban, more so than a permitting process. Can't use them to make deliveries. For that purpose, anyways, it is a ban.

 

[Skirge01]

If SF is anything like NYC, these things are probably less troublesome than construction equipment/blockades, broken sidewalks, subway vents, sidewalk cellar access doors, people on cell phones, and panhandlers.

 

[dgingeri]

I can see it now, government requires delivery bots to stay on the sidewalk and see and avoid running into people, resulting in three quarter of delivery bots being stuck at bus stops for days at a time because of people messing with their pathing.

 

[otherweeb]

It's obvious the robot's flag is at the perfect height to poke someone's eye out, and no BB gun's for you this christmas either !

 

[longblock454]

I'd MUCH rather walk amongst delivery robots in SF than a bunch of pompous liberal dipshits.

 

[PaulP]

So they are requiring that delivery robots have permits, however they are not allowed to deliver anything. Am I the only one that sees the contradiction here?

 

[dgingeri]

So they are requiring that delivery robots have permits, however they are not allowed to deliver anything. Am I the only one that sees the contradiction here?

That's the same issue that came up with weapons permits back in the early 1800s. They tried restricting guns to only those who had permits, but then many cities refused to grant permits. It was declared unconstitutional on those grounds, and has remained a mainstay in US law since then.