The Federation Council proposed conducting an experiment to regulate the work of robot couriers

The launch of a pilot project in several regions of Russia to regulate the work of delivery robots will determine their legal status and operational requirements. This was announced on February 6 by Deputy Chairman of the Council for the Development of the Digital Economy at the Federation Council, Senator Artem Sheikin.

"The most balanced decision is to launch an experiment in a number of regions. Within its framework, it is necessary to consolidate the status of such a robot as a participant in traffic, establish clear requirements for speed, permissible zones, technical equipment, visibility and absolute priority of pedestrians, as well as work out mechanisms for remote control and operator actions in emergency situations," Sheikin said in an interview with TASS.

The senator explained that today, robot couriers have actually become participants in street traffic, but the current versions of the traffic regulations and Administrative Code were created for people and traditional transport. As a result, legal uncertainty arises: it is unclear who should be responsible in the event of an incident and how the damage caused is compensated.

According to Sheikin, according to the results of the experiment, it will be possible to amend legislation and traffic rules in order to determine the place of such devices in the transport system. He stressed the need to consolidate the responsibilities of the companies-owners and operators, establish requirements for insurance and technical standards, as well as clearly delineate responsibility between the developer, operator, dispatcher or owner.

At the same time, fines, in his opinion, should be applied not to the robot, but to the legal entity or official responsible for its use. It is advisable to determine specific measures of responsibility after obtaining statistics and analyzing law enforcement practice, the agency's interlocutor concluded.

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On February 10, Izvestia got acquainted with the materials of the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow, according to which the court canceled the fine of the traffic police in the amount of 300 thousand rubles issued to Robodostavka for the actions of a delivery robot in the center of the capital. According to the court, initially, the traffic police inspector fined the company under Article 12.33 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation ("Damage to roads"), accusing robots of interfering with pedestrians on the sidewalk.

Robodostavka filed a complaint, stating that the devices could not have intended to block roads. The court agreed with the company's arguments and additionally noted that the delivery robot is not a vehicle, and there were no objective signs of a threat to traffic safety.

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