Arizona Woman Sues Food Delivery Robot Company for Repeatedly Striking and Injuring Her

An Arizona woman is suing the maker of a food delivery robot, alleging the device ran into her knocking her to the ground — and then hit her again. Videos of good samaritans rescuing delivery robots from uneven sidewalks have gone viral on social media. However, the seemingly innocent robots have allegedly been responsible for causing serious injury to people. A former Arizona State University parking attendant, Trudy Perez, is suing a company that manufactures delivery robots, Starship Technologies, for negligence. She alleges one of its robots struck her repeatedly and knocked her to the ground in 2023. The lawsuit states that Ms. Perez, 73, was trying to speak to someone regarding a parked vehicle. She noticed that one of Starship’s robots was crossing the sidewalk and she tried to cross behind it.An ASU police report says the robot backed into Ms. Perez and knocked her to the ground on her back. It then reversed into her again as it tried to leave.Ms. Perez told officers that she had back pain and trouble walking. The police report says she had a four-inch laceration near her left elbow.Starship provided Ms. Perez with a video of the incident and asked for her contact information so it could provide her with insurance information and “promo codes.”According to the police report, “[Ms. Perez] is seen attempting to cross the sidewalk after the unmanned vehicle passes her and [the video] shows the unmanned vehicle abruptly changing direction in reverse hitting [her] and knocking her down as it continued in reverse as she fell. The unmanned vehicle then goes forward away from [the employee] a few feet and then abruptly goes into reverse again and heads toward [her] again, who is still on the ground.”The plaintiff alleges that Starship did not operate the delivery robot safely, and that the device was defective. She also alleges that a Starship employee failed to monitor the robot and “exercise control” of it before it struck her. Starship was testing its robot at the time of the accident.Ms. Perez is seeking damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lost wages. Starship Technologies declined to comment on pending litigation. The case is scheduled to go to trial in February, and it could determine who is liable when a delivery robot strikes a pedestrian in Arizona.Ms. Perez is not the only person suing over such incidents. In May, a New Jersey man, Conor Shannon, said he plans to sue Uber and an autonomous vehicle company, Avride, after a robot allegedly struck him while he was riding a bike.Mr. Shannon said that as he was riding home in October 2025, an Avride robot abruptly entered the bike lane and crashed into him, sending him flying over his bike’s handlebars. The cyclist, who suffered a concussion and broken clavicle, says the robot then tried to leave the scene. Avride declined to comment on pending litigation. Determining liability in such cases can be difficult as the delivery robots largely operate without human oversight, and there is little court precedent.A Florida-based personal injury law firm, Templer & Hirsch, says that liability for such incidents may fall on the robot’s manufacturer or software developers if it is determined that a manufacturing or software defect led to the accident. The firm says the company that operates the robot may be found liable if it was negligent in the maintenance and oversight of the device.Starship and Avride have argued that the plaintiffs’ “negligence” was responsible for the accidents.

Arizona Woman Sues Food Delivery Robot Company for Repeatedly Striking and Injuring Her

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