It may sound like something out of the future, but the technology is here that allows delivery services to take advantage of delivery robots to homes and businesses. The Georgia General Assembly is addressing the issue with a new law that will govern delivery robots and allow local governments to pass regulations for their use.
If we’re letting robots on the streets, we need to have requirements for them,” said state Rep. Todd Jones, R-South Forsyth, the bill’s sponsor. Without rules in place for delivery robots, the technology has seen limited use in Georgia. But that may be about to change. Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A announced plans late in May to test delivery robots at a limited number of restaurants in Florida, Texas, and California.
Under the new Georgia law, delivery robots will be permitted to operate on non-limited access highways with speed limits of 45 miles an hour or less, and at no more than 20 miles an hour when on sidewalks with at least a four-foot path for persons with disabilities. They can weigh no more than 500 pounds when empty and 600 pounds when carrying cargo and emit a sound when they come within six feet of another vehicle, a person on foot or someone in a wheelchair.
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