Commercial robot incidents, Q3 2024
Q3 2024: 8 documented incidents involving commercial robots (+14% on the quarter before), 4 with a person hurt and 0 fatal. 1 reached a regulator, a recall or a court. Most involved Avride (1). Largest class: autonomous vehicle (2).
Incidents are counted by the date they happened, 2024-07-01 to 2024-09-30. 0 cases were published to the register during the quarter, including older events documented for the first time. Counts measure what was reported in English and cleared verification; fleet sizes are not public, so nothing here is a rate. Rules on the methodology page. Previous quarter for comparison: Q2 2024.
By kind of machine
- Autonomous vehicle2
- Service2
- Consumer1
- Delivery1
- Other1
- Surgical1
By company
- Avride1
- Bear Robotics1
- Boston Dynamics1
- Cruise1
- Globus Medical1
- Lifeward1
- Waymo1
By outcome
- serious injury3
- no harm2
- property damage2
- minor injury1
The cases that reached furthest
Ordered by severity, then by how many independent sources the case rests on.
- 2024-09-10An Avride delivery robot collided with a cyclist's e-bike at the intersection of Philomena Street and Berkman Drive in Austin, Texas, causing the cyclist serious personal injuries.Report
- 2024-08-22GM's Cruise recalls nearly 1,200 robotaxis to close a US government probe stemming from a crash.Recall
- 2024-08-14The FDA issued a warning letter to Globus Medical after finding that the company failed to properly investigate complaints of misplaced screws and delayed reporting serious injuries, including spinal cord damage to a patient, associated with its ExcelsiusGPS surgical robot.Report
- 2024-09-02YouTuber IShowSpeed was set on fire during a livestream when his robot dog equipped with a flamethrower shot flames at him multiple times, causing him to jump into a pool to escape.Report
- 2024-09-14A Boston Dynamics robot dog fell down a flight of stairs and broke during a demonstration at Jaguar Land Rover's battery testing facility in Coventry.Report
- 2024-07-05A Bear Robotics administrative robot employed by Gumi City Council fell down a flight of stairs between the first and second floors of the council building, destroying itself.Report
Whose incidents reach consequences
Share of a company's recorded incidents, across the whole register, that reached a regulator, a recall or a court. Companies with fewer than the threshold of cases are left out. Register total: 280 cases, 39 escalated.
- Zoox5/9 · 56%
- Cruise3/10 · 30%
- Tesla2/15 · 13%
- Starship Technologies1/9 · 11%
- Waymo5/69 · 7%
- Unitree Robotics0/11 · 0%
What the operators wrote in their own crash reports
1437 crash reports filed with NHTSA by 17 operators under the Standing General Order, read by theme. The federal file has one structured column for what was struck; these counts exist nowhere else.
- Emergency responders on scene, most often Waymo LLC128
- Stopped or blocking traffic, most often Waymo LLC124
- A pedestrian involved, most often Waymo LLC59
- A cyclist or scooter rider, most often Waymo LLC41
- Rear-ended by another vehicle, most often Zoox, Inc.36
- Roadworks, cones or a closure, most often Waymo LLC24
All 8 incidents dated Q3 2024
Newest first. Each one links to its timeline and to the sources it rests on. Case metadata is CC BY 4.0; cite the register by its DOI, 10.5281/zenodo.22925531.
- 2024-09-27A paralyzed former jockey was left unable to use his ReWalk Personal exoskeleton after manufacturer Lifeward refused to service the device due to its age, before eventually agreeing to repair it following a public campaign.Report
- 2024-09-27A Waymo robotaxi stalled while making a U-turn in front of Vice President Kamala Harris' motorcade in San Francisco, requiring an SFPD officer to manually drive the vehicle out of the way.Report
- 2024-09-14A Boston Dynamics robot dog fell down a flight of stairs and broke during a demonstration at Jaguar Land Rover's battery testing facility in Coventry.Report
- 2024-09-10An Avride delivery robot collided with a cyclist's e-bike at the intersection of Philomena Street and Berkman Drive in Austin, Texas, causing the cyclist serious personal injuries.Report
- 2024-09-02YouTuber IShowSpeed was set on fire during a livestream when his robot dog equipped with a flamethrower shot flames at him multiple times, causing him to jump into a pool to escape.Report
- 2024-08-22GM's Cruise recalls nearly 1,200 robotaxis to close a US government probe stemming from a crash.Recall
- 2024-08-14The FDA issued a warning letter to Globus Medical after finding that the company failed to properly investigate complaints of misplaced screws and delayed reporting serious injuries, including spinal cord damage to a patient, associated with its ExcelsiusGPS surgical robot.Report
- 2024-07-05A Bear Robotics administrative robot employed by Gumi City Council fell down a flight of stairs between the first and second floors of the council building, destroying itself.Report