Virginia Becomes First State To Legalize Delivery Robots

According to Recode, Virginia is the first state to pass legislation allowing delivery robots to operate on sidewalks and crosswalks across the state. The law (HB 2016) was signed by the governor last Friday and will go into effect on July 1. Recode reports: The two Virginia lawmakers who sponsored the bill, Ron Villanueva and Bill DeSteph, teamed up with Starship Technologies, an Estonian-based ground delivery robotics company, to draft the legislation. Robots operating under the new law won't be able to exceed 10 miles per hour or weigh over 50 pounds, but they will be allowed to rove autonomously. The law doesn't require robots to stay within line of sight of a person in control, but a person is required to at least remotely monitor the robot and take over if it goes awry. Robots are only allowed on streets in a crosswalk. Municipalities in the state are allowed to regulate how robots will operate locally, like if a city council wants to impose a stricter speed limit or keep them out entirely.

"...like if a city council wants to impose a..."

[turkeydance]

tax

Statist thinking

[x0ra]

"Legalize" is merely new speak for "regulate". The USA is a free country. Law does not, and can't, "allow" you to do anything, it only can forbid and regulate you to do things. There is no blanket statement about not being allowed to do anything but certain things.

That being said, this statist point of view is typical of the east coast.

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[Waffle Iron]

The sidewalks are owned by the government. They get to decide what happens on them; end of story.

If you don't like that, buy your own sidewalks.

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[x0ra]

You obviously did *not* understand my point: law can only be repressive, not releasing / liberatory. By default, you have the Right to to everything you want, then come the law in its oppressive form. As such "legalize" is actually a negative term.

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[Waffle Iron]

By claiming that the laws which define property are "oppressive", you're taking unhinged libertarianism into new and uncharted territory.

Re:Statist thinking

[Mycroft-X]

But you don't make laws that legalize something, you repeal or negate laws that prohibit it. I'm woefully unaware of state laws that make it illegal for machinery to safely operate in pedestrian right of way.

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[ShanghaiBill]

I'm woefully unaware of state laws that make it illegal for machinery to safely operate in pedestrian right of way.

Maybe not states, but many localities have laws that prohibit powered vehicles from using pedestrian walkways. This is what killed the Segway.

Re: Statist thinking

[Anonymous Coward]

.....aside from it being really dorky.

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[dcw3]

Odd, I just had about 8 of them pass me on the sidewalk in Waikiki yesterday. What "killed" them is price and practicality for most people.

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[rtb61]

So when a robot and a person meet on the street who has to give way? If a robot wanders on to your property by mistake, can you claim salvage rights, for an out of control robot? If a group of people are on the footpath and the robot can not proceed without entering the roadway, not at a crossing or trespassing on private property, what do they do, force their way through? When the robot is hacked, do the robot operators face penalties for improperly securing the robot? What are the legal ramifications of a

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[drinkypoo]

So when a robot and a person meet on the street who has to give way?

An electric personal delivery device operated on a sidewalk or shared-use path or across a roadway on a crosswalk shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian. [virginia.gov]

If a robot wanders on to your property by mistake, can you claim salvage rights, for an out of control robot?

No. It's handled like any other piece of someone else's property.

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[dcw3]

The answer to most of your questions are simple common sense...stay on your side of the sidewalk...if someone's baseball lands in your yard, is it yours? We don't need lawyers to write rules for every god damn nit. It's one of the reason why we're so twisted about the axle in the U.S.

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[_Sharp'r_]

Sidewalks are owned by the property owner, typically, smaller roads are also. The property just has recorded against it a right-of-way for others to use the road and whatever that locality's legally mandated distance from the road is. As part of the right-of-way, people can drive over the road, walk along the edge, etc...

Cities typically legally take over responsibility for the road portion (and the road is currently usually built and paid for by the land owner at some point), but while the sidewalk is a pu

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[dcw3]

"Sidewalks are owned by the property owner..."

It's better to check when you don't know what you're talking about.

https://www.reference.com/gove... [reference.com]

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[_Sharp'r_]

Your random unattributed internet reference is incorrect. Even where some cities incorrectly try to call possessing a right-of-way "owning" the sidewalk to people, in a legal sense, the property still belongs to the property owner [mrsc.org]. If you look at the actual recorded deeds and maps in the recorders office, it's very easy to see the distinction. Some cities explain the distinction between owning the property and owning a right-of-way to a portion of the property very well [cityoftacoma.org], others fairly well [seattle.gov], and some cities

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[MrL0G1C]

The sidewalks are owned by the government.

Are they? I dont know about THE US but in the UK they are public and public owned.

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[Waffle Iron]

Isn't that the same thing as I said?

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[AK Marc]

So if motorized vehicles were illegal on the sidewalk, and the law is changed to allow small autonomous motorized vehicles to legally operate on the sidewalk, this action that made a previously illegal activity legal is not legalization?

I think the issue is that your dictionary is broken.

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[dcw3]

And in some places, like my previous home, the neighborhood can have a mix of public and private roads. My old HOA had to bill the folks on private roads for snow removal...public roads were covered by our taxes.

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[dougdonovan]

delivery robots to operate on sidewalks and crosswalks across the state...these aren't robots, these are humans that work for the federal governments. they dress ( you know, the 9-5 look w/ the shirt and tie and sport coat even when it is 100+ degrees outside ) and act like robots, they drive new and probably leased suv's and i'm sure they own nice homes in nice neighborhoods but yes, in fact, they are humans with skin, blood and bones and even in that order so you don't need to legalize them because they

Meh...

[__aaclcg7560]

I welcome our new delivery robot overlords — one package at a time.

Starbucks

[AK Marc]

Yawn. Let me know when Starbucks drones can deliver a coffee to me in traffic. I don't like Starbucks, and I'd not want the drone landing on my car roof, but I'd try it once for the novelty.

Regulatory Capture?

[jdschulteis]

The two Virginia lawmakers who sponsored the bill, Ron Villanueva and Bill DeSteph, teamed up with Starship Technologies, an Estonian-based ground delivery robotics company, to draft the legislation. Robots operating under the new law won't be able to exceed 10 miles per hour or weigh over 50 pounds,

I can't help wondering if Starship Technologies' robots coincidentally have a top speed of 10 miles per hour, and their competitors have more capable robots that weigh substantially more than 50 pounds.