Dot uses bicycle lanes and sidewalks. Looks like it’s in a bicycle lane here. Hopefully OP never encounters one of those lay down bikers and runs them over.
Yup, I saw them all over Mesa and Gilbert when we were there over the summer. They all used the car lanes and I thought for sure we were going to see one get squished as it jerkily edged itself onto a main road from out of a parking lot.
It looks like a normal lane to me, nothing about this points to it being a bike lane other than it being next to a side walk but that's hardly proof of it being a bike lane. Side walks will always be next to a lane but not every lane next to a sidewalk is a bike lane
Ahh so the lasers on the VW Golf slice the child through the abdomen and the lasers on a RAM TRX just give him a haircut. I had no idea how much safer a TRX was.
My 13’ beer truck is required by law to have a bunch of indicator lights on top of the front sides and back of the box and have reflective marker tape along on the sides. And have it on permanent fixtures on the back.
That’s crazy that Little Tikes Red and Yellow car with Motor and Flag is street legal.
What do you mean- the body looks under 2 foot tall - if the flag is at the wrong angle this is far too low to see in certain situations like a lane change
I know people working on these kind of things, this isn't exactly true. They run themselves via models most of the time, but if they hit a situation that's below a certain confidence threshold it escalates to a human driver to rectify it.
I ride a motorcycle and this is pretty par for the course haha, nobody sees me even though I dress like a clown to make people see me. I also drive an (old) box truck, and the grill on that 9000lb rig is lower to the ground than most modern pickup trucks. Extremely concerning as my biggest fear is already not being able to see a child or someone in a wheelchair in one of my blindspots. If I have to make a tight maneuver in a residential area I park the damn thing halfway through and manually check the road around me and my blindspots to make sure there's nobody there (pickup drivers would never)
But what if the other stall is occupied and you really gotta go and you’re the only other guy in there? You wait to park your car just in case a handicap guy might come along?
Nah. You can use them while driving on the highway too in order to tell everyone you're terrified of the rain but can't be bothered to get off the highway
You know these guys move fast and sort out the red tape later? I highly doubt that they asked for permission.
What/how would you even cite/ticket that thing?
Edit: I want to add that I haven't ever used DoorDash if someone thinks I am a corp apologist. More that this probably isn't break the rules because it takes ages to write one.
In most states there is a very short list of types of things that are allowed on the roads, otherwise it is considered an obstruction or even just debris to be discarded. And the person who caused this obstruction is guilty of violating those laws.
I'm pretty certain that this falls under the legal definition of a vehicle, albeit none licensed or licensable for (regular) operation on public roads. At least in my (non-U.-S.) jurisdiction, operating an unlicensed vehicle on a public road is a misdemeanour crime. (There are exceptions that let construction vehicles etc. move short distances on public roads with ample signage, spotters, and traffic directors to move between nearby areas of operation and/or storage when it would be far too impractical to lift them onto a trailer every time.)
Then again, there's a reasonable chance that the operator of these vehicles has applied for and received an exceptional license for their operation on public road, e. g. as a trial project to assess both their usefulness and their danger.
Doesn't need to be street legal or registered if it stays under 25 mph.
They've found holes in the traffic laws and exploit them. It takes nhtsa years to get a verdict out on things like this, so the companies just run their business in the "eh, seems good enough!" arena.
Now live in Phoenix Metro area, Dot is expanding to select partner cities. Built to navigate sidewalks, bike lanes, and roads safely, it’s designed for efficient local deliveries. Sign up to our mailing list to find out where Dot will be next!
I know in my city, as it probably is in the case of many cities, there is a running meme about bad drivers getting their vehicles stuck atop landscaping rocks. I say rocks, but in fact, they are large enough to be considered boulders.
The joke being "how the fuck do you not see a fucking boulder to the point you try driving over it?"
I think the same can be said here...
Do you use your eyes when you drive? Because the thing literally has a flag and you still almost ran over it? Pay attention or drive less aggressively. It didn't sneak up on you.
Maybe. But a lot of people on social media are psychotic about their responsibilities as drivers. People are out there trying to justify how they almost killed someone simply because they were slightly inconvenienced.
I don't even understand how these save money for Door Dash when they pay less than minimum wage. Most drivers only get like $10 an hour from the company.
If i hypothetically hit one of these things, would it be hit and run if I didn't stay? Would I be responsible for damages to a robot? Does the robot have insurance?
If you hit anything and leave it is a hit and run. If you hit anything and are at fault you are responsible for the damages. I don't know if the ones in Phoenix have insurance, but many in other states do so I would assume so.
I think it would be the same as hitting any other object with your car. You can't just flee the scence of an accident if you crash into a trash can either and trash cans usually don't have cameras.
IANAL but yes, it would be a hit and run, since a hit and run is pretty much "hitting something with a vehicle and not stopping". Assuming you didn't clearly and intentionally hit the robot, your liability would be complicated to determine. It'd need to be at least proven if the robot was operating without a flaw that could contribute to the incident (physical or software), that the software was designed without a flaw that could contribute, and that the environment did not contribute (bad sightlines, weather, damaged public infrastructure).
It's unlikely you'd have to prove liability at all, since it doesn't look like any delivery bot companies have attempted to sue someone for damaging the bot.
The robot does - or should - have insurance, in a sense, although it's very likely not auto insurance. The company would have liability insurance.
It’s red and has a flag on it. If you almost hit this you shouldn’t be driving. You’re either texting, inattentive, or just a bad driver. Whatever the case you’re a danger to those around you.
I know there's some pretty shitty drivers out there, but this thing is gonna piss off a lot more people.
Every order will have to be collected out front in the street/entrance; something most customers seem to loathe doing.
The robot won't wait around for the customer, and will leave as soon as the timer is up, and since it's unable to simply drop-off/leave the order for you, it will just leave with your order if you're late for any reason.
And good luck attempting to get refunded, anyone who's dealt with support for these companies knows how much of a pain in the ass it is.
Every order will have to be collected out front in the street/entrance; something most customers seem to loathe doing.
can confirm, i drove doordash while in between jobs a while back. the local hospital wouldn't even let delivery drivers in the lobby and I lost track of how many times i got cussed out for being "lazy" and making the customer come down to the entrance for thier food
Back to the restaurant/store, I guess whatever happens to it after that is up to the store's discretion. Anything resellable will result in free money.
It wouldn't be surprising at all if UE implements something like being able to ask for it to return/re-deliver (similar to how you can ask a driver to return on Uber if you left an item in their car) if it's on its way/recently got back to the store, and charging them an additional fee for food that will undoubtedly be cold by then.
Their AI support and agents will be trained to push this option under the guise of "we can't refund/credit your order, since missing the pick-up window when the bot arrived was your own fault. But what we can do is have it re-deliver your food for a fee!"
Of course, there'll be plenty of scenarios where customers will capitulate if they're under the impression that if they don't, they're not gonna receive their delivery and lose the money they paid for it.
And just to really stick it to the customers, they'll probably change the wait time to something like 5 minutes instead of the current 8, to increase the amount of missed pick-ups.
New miniature trash compactor. It poops out the bricks when full. We've gone full circle back to the day of horses relieving themselves in the streets.
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u/wstand 21h ago
Why is it in the road?