Japanese Government Introduces New Traffic Laws for Delivery Robots

Revised Japanese traffic laws will now allow delivery robots like Hakobo to navigate through the streets and deliver fresh food

Walking through the streets of Japan, you would often be greeted by a small, cute and polite robot, saying ‘excuse me’ as he makes his way across crowds to deliver food. A large number of these four-wheeler robots are being developed in the country to help tackle its labor shortages.

To make these delivery robots blend in well with the Japanese locals, the government has now released a set of new revised traffic laws.

With the new traffic laws in place, these Japanese delivery robots will be able to navigate easily through Japanese streets and deliver fresh food thus solving Japan’s increasing labor problem while also helping food reach depopulated rural areas.

Though the new traffic laws solve problems for delivery robots to some extent, citizens will still take some time to blend in with the society.

“They are still newcomers in human society, so it’s natural they’re seen with a bit of discomfort,” said Tokyo-based robotics firm ZMP President Hisashi Taniguchi.

Taniguchi also reassured that the robots will not be entirely alone, since they will constantly be monitored by humans, who can easily identify and assist whenever a problem occurs.

New delivery robots being released are designed to be super polite and humble, a quality that is making them famous amongst Japanese youth.

Navigating through roads, the delivery robots say things like ‘excuse me’ and other such polite words. While selling food, the robot can say long sentences such as “another cold day, isn’t it? How about some hot drinks”?

ZMP President Hisashi Taniguchi says that these robots should be used everywhere in the country. “Japan loves robots,” he added.

Read more:

WhatsApp New Update Will have an Increased Media Limit and Scheduled Calls