Commercial robot incidents, August 2023
4 commercial robot incidents dated August 2023 so far (provisional, verification backlog), 2 with a person hurt and 1 fatal. 0 cases were added to the register during the month. Most involved Cruise (3). Largest class: autonomous vehicles (3).
Provisional. 21 reports published in or just after this month are still in the verification queue, so the count will rise as they clear. A lower figure here means a slower queue, not fewer incidents.
Incidents are counted by the date they happened, 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31. Counts measure what was reported in the press the register reads and cleared verification; fleet sizes are not public, so nothing here is a rate. The register holds 255 cases in all. Rules on the methodology page. Previous month: July 2023. Quarterly view: the quarterly record.
By kind of machine
- Autonomous vehicles3
- Consumer robots1
By company
- Cruise3
By outcome
- fatality1
- minor injury1
- no harm1
- property damage1
The cases that reached furthest
Ordered by severity, then by how many independent sources the case rests on.
- 2023-08-14Two Cruise autonomous vehicles stopped in traffic lanes on August 14, 2023 in San Francisco, allegedly delaying an ambulance transporting a pedestrian with life-threatening injuries who later died at the hospital, though Cruise disputes that its vehicles impeded the ambulance.Report
- 2023-08-17A Cruise self-driving robotaxi was struck by a San Francisco Fire Department truck en route to an emergency at the intersection of Polk and Turk Streets in the Tenderloin district, resulting in one passenger being transported to a hospital with non-severe injuries.Regulator action
- 2023-08-07A driverless Cruise autonomous vehicle was struck by a semi-truck performing a left turn from the right lane near Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, sustaining damage to its passenger-side mirror, a camera, and a tire, with no passengers in the vehicle and no injuries reported.Report
- 2023-08-24Aiper Elite Pro Cordless Robotic Pool Vacuum Cleaners Recalled Due to Burn and Fire Hazards; Distributed by Shenzhen Aiper Intelligent Co. (Recall Alert)Recall
All 4 incidents dated August 2023
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.
- 2023-08-24Aiper Elite Pro Cordless Robotic Pool Vacuum Cleaners Recalled Due to Burn and Fire Hazards; Distributed by Shenzhen Aiper Intelligent Co. (Recall Alert)Recall
- 2023-08-17A Cruise self-driving robotaxi was struck by a San Francisco Fire Department truck en route to an emergency at the intersection of Polk and Turk Streets in the Tenderloin district, resulting in one passenger being transported to a hospital with non-severe injuries.Regulator action
- 2023-08-14Two Cruise autonomous vehicles stopped in traffic lanes on August 14, 2023 in San Francisco, allegedly delaying an ambulance transporting a pedestrian with life-threatening injuries who later died at the hospital, though Cruise disputes that its vehicles impeded the ambulance.Report
- 2023-08-07A driverless Cruise autonomous vehicle was struck by a semi-truck performing a left turn from the right lane near Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, sustaining damage to its passenger-side mirror, a camera, and a tire, with no passengers in the vehicle and no injuries reported.Report
The next roundup, and every case before it, by email
Every case added to the register in the last seven days, with its sources. Free, no account, and the register is the only sender.