Ministers likely to support law change to allow delivery robots on England’s paths

Large numbers of autonomous delivery robots could be coming to towns and cities across England after ministers signalled they were likely to support a change in the law allowing their use, prompting concern from safety campaigners. Low-speed robots, which mainly deliver groceries or takeaway food, are already in use in a handful of places but they operate in a regulatory grey area. The 1835 Highways Act bans “carriages” from pavements. This is expected to be resolved under upcoming changes to the law on electric mobility scooters and wheelchairs. Ministers are looking to put delivery robots in the same category after a consultation . The Department for Transport (DfT), which is leading the changes, said it is focused on safety. But campaign groups said the robots, which are programmed only to use pavements, will make crowded footways even more congested, posing a particular problem for older people, those who are blind or partially sighted and those who use mobility aids. The box-shaped, white, six-wheeled robots manufactured by the US firm Starship Technologies are already a common sight in parts of towns and cities including Cambridge, Bristol, Milton Keynes, Sheffield, Leeds and Barnsley. The pedestrian safety charity Living Streets said the legal status of the trials was unclear, and that in Sheffield it had emerged that one Starship Technologies hub was installed at a scout hut without the council or local people being told. …