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0 pointssolid_fuel5d ago0 comments

I have a friend who uses a wheelchair and he hates encountering these things in the wild. I know there's a couple different companies making these things and I'm not sure if they all behave like this, but they take up the whole sidewalk and won't backup or turn to get out of the way.

Instead they just sit there blinking and beeping at my friend, and of course in a wheelchair it's not easy (or safe!) to go over the curb or anything to get around them.

Automated delivery sounds cool at first glance but they probably shouldn't be on the sidewalk if they can't accommodate the humans who also need to get around.

0 comments

24 comments · 7 top-level

exmadscientist5d ago· 8 in thread

Robots that cannot share sidewalks with humans, including humans in wheelchairs, should be banned from sidewalks. Full stop. End of discussion. They can use the streets proper if they want to.

I'm sure there is some way to formalize that using ADA sidewalk requirements or something similar.

Grombobulous5d ago

I really don’t understand how a four wheeled self-driving powered vehicle is allowed to drive on the sidewalk when riding a bicycle on the sidewalk in that same city is illegal.

rcxdude5d ago

Probably under the same regulations that allow a powered wheelchair on the sidewalk. A low maximum speed makes up for a lot of things. But they should have a plan for encountering a wheelchair user.

1 more reply

slyall5d ago

Because traffic laws work for cars and pedestrians. Anything else in between in fuzzy and hard to define or legislate

lovich4d ago

Because corporations have more rights than the common man and these robots are the property of corporations.

If you as a regular person cause some sort of damage to a corporation you’ll be arrested and locked up while they determine the legality and if there was an actual illegal damage. If these corporations cause regular people problems then it’s “oopsies, you can sue us in court with your far smaller resources in a system that is heavily incentivized for those with more resources” and no equivalent corporate entity is getting the equivalent of cash bail.

1 more reply

lesostep4d ago

There should be some some way to sue for unlawful restriction of access to public infrastructure.

As far as I'm aware, you can't just put a border on a sidewalk.

Bots that stop you from using sidewalk are essentially that. A border on a public infrastructure put there by some company.

1 more reply

Hizonner5d ago

> They can use the streets proper if they want to.

How about no? They'll block traffic there, too.

fouc4d ago

Vehicles have been far too dominant in city planning, it's probably time to re-prioritize, make it look more like Netherlands or some other European countries perhaps.

I suggest a priority order somewhat like:

pedestrians > bicyclists > delivery bots > vehicles

currently in America I suppose it probably looks more like this currently:

vehicles > delivery bots > pedestrians.

1 more reply

margalabargala4d ago

Only at first, they'll fragment after the first few cars.

colechristensen5d ago· 3 in thread

This would seem like an easy ADA case.

solid_fuelOP5d ago

I'm not aware of someone filing such a case yet, but I would think so too.

I'm not sure if you would sue the city or the robot company, or both? It feels like a failure on the part of both.

margalabargala4d ago

Why would the city be liable for shitty robot behavior?

Maybe you could construct a situation where they would be but I can't imagine it would be one that would play out in real life. A city allowing robots to operate would make the robot company to follow all applicable laws" including ADA so unless the city's lawyer is really really bad this lands on the robot company.

1 more reply

bluefirebrand4d ago

It's not the city's responsibility to make the sidewalks delivery robot friendly, it's 100% a failure on the part of the robot company

2 more replies

xnx5d ago· 3 in thread

> won't backup or turn to get out of the way.

This seems surprising. As far as I know all these carts are controlled remotely in real time.

eloisius4d ago

Remote controlled by people in faraway LCOL places where they may not understand or be trained on Western disability norms, but are certainly incentivized by how many deliveries they complete.

Sabinus4d ago

The same issues exist for platform moderation. Often they're complex decisions on divisive topics, delegated to people outside the culture with little training, time, or incentive to make wise judgements.

solid_fuelOP4d ago

I think it depends on the robot. The ones around here seem to be semi-automatic and seem to get taken over by a human when they're blocked, but it often takes 5 or 10 minutes before that happens.

ncallaway4d ago· 1 in thread

If I saw a delivery robot blocking someone in a wheel-chair, I'm moving it off the sidewalk and I'm not particularly concerned if it's able to complete its trip after that.

thatguy004d ago

Don't pussyfoot around it. Break the fuckin' thing. Let the owner know this is absolutely fucking unacceptable. A person would get the shit kicked out of them for that kind of behavior.

jurgenburgen4d ago· 1 in thread

> Instead they just sit there blinking and beeping at my friend, and of course in a wheelchair it's not easy (or safe!) to go over the curb or anything to get around them.

I would keep on rolling into the robot. Sometimes the provider needs some production incidents to get motivated into fixing a bug.

thatguy004d ago

Or to understand that public sentiment makes their stupid business venture wholly unviable, economically. That happens when people break your shit. We didn't get traction on scooters and e-bikes until they started landing in ponds and off overpasses. Your politicians want new business. They won't help. You have to fight the businesses directly.

_doctor_love4d ago· 1 in thread

I worry that some enterprising person representing the delivery companies will find a way to make it so that if humans in wheelchairs block the path of the robots, then it's the humans who will have to yield.

It makes me think of that scene from The Man In The High Castle - "drag on the state."

_doctor_love4d ago

Note for the downvoters: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/20/us/politics/special-educa...

Gee, yeah, not an ill-founded worry at all. Wake the fuck up.

al_borland5d ago

Delivery robots also can’t come to the door. So for a person with a disability, or who simply ordered food because they didn’t want to leave the house for whatever reason (maybe they have the flu), it kills the value proposition.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

24 comments · 7 top-level

exmadscientist5d ago· 8 in thread

Robots that cannot share sidewalks with humans, including humans in wheelchairs, should be banned from sidewalks. Full stop. End of discussion. They can use the streets proper if they want to.

I'm sure there is some way to formalize that using ADA sidewalk requirements or something similar.

Grombobulous5d ago

I really don’t understand how a four wheeled self-driving powered vehicle is allowed to drive on the sidewalk when riding a bicycle on the sidewalk in that same city is illegal.

rcxdude5d ago

Probably under the same regulations that allow a powered wheelchair on the sidewalk. A low maximum speed makes up for a lot of things. But they should have a plan for encountering a wheelchair user.

1 more reply

slyall5d ago

Because traffic laws work for cars and pedestrians. Anything else in between in fuzzy and hard to define or legislate

lovich4d ago

Because corporations have more rights than the common man and these robots are the property of corporations.

1 more reply

lesostep4d ago

There should be some some way to sue for unlawful restriction of access to public infrastructure.

As far as I'm aware, you can't just put a border on a sidewalk.

Bots that stop you from using sidewalk are essentially that. A border on a public infrastructure put there by some company.

1 more reply

Hizonner5d ago

> They can use the streets proper if they want to.

How about no? They'll block traffic there, too.

fouc4d ago

Vehicles have been far too dominant in city planning, it's probably time to re-prioritize, make it look more like Netherlands or some other European countries perhaps.

I suggest a priority order somewhat like:

pedestrians > bicyclists > delivery bots > vehicles

currently in America I suppose it probably looks more like this currently:

vehicles > delivery bots > pedestrians.

1 more reply

margalabargala4d ago

Only at first, they'll fragment after the first few cars.

colechristensen5d ago· 3 in thread

This would seem like an easy ADA case.

solid_fuelOP5d ago

I'm not aware of someone filing such a case yet, but I would think so too.

I'm not sure if you would sue the city or the robot company, or both? It feels like a failure on the part of both.

margalabargala4d ago

Why would the city be liable for shitty robot behavior?

1 more reply

bluefirebrand4d ago

It's not the city's responsibility to make the sidewalks delivery robot friendly, it's 100% a failure on the part of the robot company

2 more replies

xnx5d ago· 3 in thread

> won't backup or turn to get out of the way.

This seems surprising. As far as I know all these carts are controlled remotely in real time.

eloisius4d ago

Remote controlled by people in faraway LCOL places where they may not understand or be trained on Western disability norms, but are certainly incentivized by how many deliveries they complete.

Sabinus4d ago

solid_fuelOP4d ago

I think it depends on the robot. The ones around here seem to be semi-automatic and seem to get taken over by a human when they're blocked, but it often takes 5 or 10 minutes before that happens.

ncallaway4d ago· 1 in thread

If I saw a delivery robot blocking someone in a wheel-chair, I'm moving it off the sidewalk and I'm not particularly concerned if it's able to complete its trip after that.

thatguy004d ago

Don't pussyfoot around it. Break the fuckin' thing. Let the owner know this is absolutely fucking unacceptable. A person would get the shit kicked out of them for that kind of behavior.

jurgenburgen4d ago· 1 in thread

> Instead they just sit there blinking and beeping at my friend, and of course in a wheelchair it's not easy (or safe!) to go over the curb or anything to get around them.

I would keep on rolling into the robot. Sometimes the provider needs some production incidents to get motivated into fixing a bug.

thatguy004d ago

_doctor_love4d ago· 1 in thread

It makes me think of that scene from The Man In The High Castle - "drag on the state."

_doctor_love4d ago

Note for the downvoters: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/20/us/politics/special-educa...

Gee, yeah, not an ill-founded worry at all. Wake the fuck up.

al_borland5d ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse