78-Year-Old Philadelphia Teacher Arrested for Blocking Delivery Robot

Carolyn Marvin, 78, was arrested in Philadelphia on Oct. 14 after blocking the path of an autonomous delivery robot on a sidewalk. The retired professor of communication from the University of Pennsylvania was cited for disorderly conduct after police officers ordered her to move.

Marvin had just returned home from receiving a flu vaccine when she encountered the vehicle. She was carrying a jar of enchilada sauce and an order of chicken biryani. She placed herself in front of the robot to delay its progress, a tactic she has used repeatedly since the machines began operating in parts of the city.

A crowd gathered around the scene, comprising both supporters of her protest and critics. Marvin suspects that a bystander contacted the police. Officers arrived responding to a vandalism report involving a delivery robot. They found Marvin refusing to let the vehicle pass despite multiple orders to clear the way.

Police officers placed Marvin in handcuffs and transported her in a patrol car. She received a ticket for disorderly conduct. Marvin stated that she did not expect to be arrested for stopping a machine. "I was not bothering anyone. I was bothering a machine," she said.

The arrest follows a 2020 Pennsylvania law that classifies autonomous delivery robots, legally termed personal delivery devices, as pedestrians rather than vehicles. This classification requires cars to yield to the robots at crosswalks, similar to how they yield to humans. The law also mandates that the robots yield to other pedestrians and cyclists in pedestrian zones.

The legislation faced opposition from Democrats, labor unions, and accessibility advocacy groups, who cited concerns about job losses and safety risks for children. Republicans supported the measure as a technological advancement. John Mattiacci, a Philadelphia personal injury attorney, noted that the legal status of the robots dictates how other traffic must interact with them.

Uber Eats, which began operating its fleet of autonomous robots in Philadelphia in March, did not respond to a request for comment regarding the incident. Marvin, who has participated in civil rights, abortion rights, Black Lives Matter, and anti-war protests, maintains that her actions are a symbolic protest against the risks these machines pose to pedestrians and privacy.