On duty robot hit by truck
Posted/updated on: June 13, 2026 at 5:55 pm
TYLER — A robot scanning Tyler’s sidewalks to learn about their accessibility was hit by a truck during its first day on duty Thursday. The Daxbots were first deployed to help with Tyler’s Americans with Disabilities Act Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan on Wednesday. Then, less than a week into the robots’ first deployment in Tyler, one of the robots was struck by a truck at the intersection of West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and North Palace Avenue.
According to the City of Tyler and our news partner KETK, the crash occurred at around 6:30 a.m., when the Daxbot was struck by a truck turning right on red. while the robot was being remotely directed across the street by a company operator.
“When a Daxbot needs to cross a roadway, a human operator monitors traffic and signal conditions and directs the unit to cross only when it is deemed safe to do so,” the City of Tyler explained.
No one was injured in the crash, but the Daxbot will be sent back to its creator’s headquarters in Oregon, where it will either be repaired or scrapped for parts to repair other Daxbots.
City officials said that the damaged Daxbot has been replaced and that their scanning project is still on schedule.
