Delivery robot collision injures up to nine bus passengers

Up to nine people were injured after a bus driver braked sharply to avoid a delivery robot that entered a crosswalk against a red light in Tallinn, ERR reported. The robot left the scene.

The crash happened at about 6 p.m. on Monday at the crossing where Luise and Tehnika streets meet, according to the municipal transport company Tallinn Transport (TLT). The robot was travelling from Tehnika Street. Other road users and the bus driver noticed it approaching, TLT said.

The driver’s sudden braking caused standing passengers to fall. TLT said leaving the scene without meeting the legal obligations of a participant in a traffic accident may constitute an offence.

TLT board member Andrei Novikov told ERR’s Russian-language channel ETV+ on Tuesday that police must establish what happened. He said the robot drove away after the collision and that police would investigate why.

A delivery robot and a bus were also involved in a collision in Tallinn in April 2020, according to media reports cited by ERR. In that incident, a robot struck the right wheel of route 24 as the bus turned from Akadeemia Road onto Teaduspargi Street in Mustamäe. No one was injured.