Serve delivery robot blocks mobility scooter user in West Hollywood

What happened

In mid-September 2025, a West Hollywood resident who has cerebral palsy was riding his mobility scooter along a sidewalk behind a Serve Robotics delivery robot. He recorded the encounter on video. He said the robot kept shifting into his path as he tried to go around it, and that when he attempted to pass on the left it cut in front of him and braked hard.

The scooter and the robot then made contact, jolting him. In one account he said the robot backed into him. He was not hurt. He later said that a person on crutches in the same position would likely have fallen, and that he had been in touch with the company.

The video spread widely online over the following week.

The system involved

Serve Robotics operates autonomous sidewalk robots that deliver restaurant orders in the Los Angeles area. The robots drive themselves, with human staff able to step in remotely. Serve said the robot involved was relying on a safety function that predicts where nearby pedestrians are heading so that it can give way to them.

Investigation and response

Serve Robotics said the yielding function had the opposite of its intended effect in this case and left the robot in the man’s way, after which the robot stopped completely, which the company described as its fail-safe state. It said it regretted falling short of its aim of not impeding other sidewalk users, especially people with disabilities.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it knew of the event but was not investigating because no crime was involved.

What is not established

Sources give different dates: ABC7 reported September 12, 2025, and CBS Los Angeles reported September 13. The man’s description of being struck or backed into differs from the company’s description of a robot that stopped in his path; no independent review determined how the contact occurred.