# Robot fatalities on record

**Verdict:** 18 distinct fatal events on the verified DEPLOY record as of 2026-07-22: 0 driverless with no human aboard, 1 in autonomous mode with a safety operator aboard, 3 driver-assist with a human driving, and 14 industrial or surgical. Each row is one distinct event, deduped and sourced. We count events, not headlines.

This is the deduped companion to [how many people have robots killed](/how-many-people-have-robots-killed.md). Counts render from the verified DEPLOY incident record. [How we verify](/methodology.md).

## The record

| Date | System / robot | Operator | Location | Autonomy class | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-12-29 | OSHA: Worker asphyxiated after robot started up in un-locked-out cell at JR Wheel (2001) | - | - | Industrial / surgical (non-mobility) | [record](/incidents/osha-jr-wheel-robot-cell-asphyxia-fatality-2001.md) |
| 2003-12-13 | OSHA: Heat-treat operator caught and killed by robotic lifting arm between oven and quench tank at Keihin IPT (2003) | - | - | Industrial / surgical (non-mobility) | [record](/incidents/osha-keihin-robotic-lifting-arm-fatality-2003.md) |
| 2004-03-30 | OSHA: Worker killed by industrial robot after entering barricaded work cell at Getrag (2004) | - | - | Industrial / surgical (non-mobility) | [record](/incidents/osha-getrag-industrial-robot-fatality-2004.md) |
| 2006-07-24 | OSHA: Worker crushed between robotic arm and workstation frame at Alliance Tech Systems (2006) | - | - | Industrial / surgical (non-mobility) | [record](/incidents/osha-alliance-tech-robotic-arm-fatality-2006.md) |
| 2007-05-13 | OSHA: Worker struck by robotic arm while troubleshooting injection-molding machine, later dies, at Lenco (2007) | - | - | Industrial / surgical (non-mobility) | [record](/incidents/osha-lenco-robotic-arm-fatality-2007.md) |
| 2009-07-21 | OSHA: Worker crushed by robotic palletizer arms after entering active cell at Golden State Foods (2009) | - | - | Industrial / surgical (non-mobility) | [record](/incidents/osha-golden-state-foods-robotic-palletizer-fatality-2009.md) |
| 2012-12-15 | OSHA: Worker struck from behind and killed by transfer robot inside work cell at Sodecia Sterling Heights (2012) | - | - | Industrial / surgical (non-mobility) | [record](/incidents/osha-sodecia-transfer-robot-fatality-2012.md) |
| 2013-03-07 | OSHA: Maintenance worker struck and killed by robotic drilling/tapping machine at Martinrea Hopkinsville (2013) | - | - | Industrial / surgical (non-mobility) | [record](/incidents/osha-martinrea-robotic-drill-fatality-2013.md) |
| 2016-06-18 | OSHA: Temporary worker Regina Elsea crushed to death by assembly-line robot at Ajin USA auto-parts plant (2016) | - | - | Industrial / surgical (non-mobility) | [record](/incidents/osha-ajin-elsea-robot-crushing-fatality-2016.md) |
| 2018-03-18 | [Uber ATG Self-Driving Vehicle (Volvo XC90)](/models/uber-atg-xc90.md) | [Uber ATG](/companies/uber-atg.md) | - | Autonomous mode, safety operator aboard | [record](/incidents/uber-atg-herzberg-tempe-2018.md) |
| 2021-01-14 | OSHA: Worker crushed and killed by Okura robotic palletizer arm at Ambrose Sales (2021) | - | - | Industrial / surgical (non-mobility) | [record](/incidents/osha-ambrose-okura-palletizer-fatality-2021.md) |
| 2022-09-01 | OSHA: Worker fatally crushed by spot-welding robot during maintenance at Unipres Southeast (2022) | - | - | Industrial / surgical (non-mobility) | [record](/incidents/osha-unipres-spot-welding-robot-fatality-2022.md) |
| 2023-11-10 | [Epione](/models/epione.md) | [Quantum Surgical](/companies/quantum-surgical.md) | - | Industrial / surgical (non-mobility) | [record](/incidents/fatality-2023-11-10-quantum-surgical.md) |
| 2023-11-28 | Tesla Model Y on FSD struck and killed pedestrian Johna Story on Arizona highway, first known FSD pedestrian fatality | [Tesla](/companies/tesla.md) | - | Driver-assist (human driving) | [record](/incidents/fatality-2023-11-28-tesla.md) |
| 2024-02-22 | OSHA: Worker crushed to death by robotic arm inside conveyor cage at Markman Peat Corp (2024) | - | - | Industrial / surgical (non-mobility) | [record](/incidents/osha-markman-peat-robotic-arm-crushing-fatality-2024.md) |
| 2024-12-02 | OSHA: 18-year-old machine operator killed by robotic arm during sensor maintenance (2024) | - | - | Industrial / surgical (non-mobility) | [record](/incidents/osha-traffic-materials-robotic-arm-fatality-2024.md) |
| 2026-06-19 | Tesla driver charged with manslaughter after FSD crash into Texas home kills woman | [Tesla](/companies/tesla.md) | - | Driver-assist (human driving) | [record](/incidents/fatality-2026-06-19-tesla.md) |
| 2026-06-28 | [Semi](/models/tesla-semi.md) | [Tesla](/companies/tesla.md) | - | Driver-assist (human driving) | [record](/incidents/fatality-2026-06-28-tesla.md) |

## How we dedupe: distinct events, not headlines

One fatal crash can generate dozens of news reports. DEPLOY records the event once. Duplicate records of the same event are marked retracted or superseded and suppressed from this count, while staying reachable at their own URL so any correction still reaches readers. The number here is smaller than a headline tally because it is deduped and every row is individually verified.

## Who was charged, and the evidence-tier fence

Charge status is carried on each event's record, not as a table column: in the autonomous-mode-with-operator case (Elaine Herzberg, Tempe 2018) the safety operator was criminally charged and pleaded guilty, and in the driver-assist road cases the human driver was charged. Separately, DEPLOY's 3 individually verified driver-assist fatalities are not the total number of driver-assist-involved deaths in the United States. NHTSA's Standing General Order aggregates manufacturer-reported crashes into the hundreds, cited at a reported tier alongside our verified count, never merged into it. Our number is smaller because every row in it is individually verified. Source: [NHTSA Standing General Order crash reporting](https://www.nhtsa.gov/laws-regulations/standing-general-order-crash-reporting).

## Dataset

Every reviewed, non-retracted fatal event above is available as a citable dataset (CC-BY-4.0): [JSON](/v1/datasets/robot-fatalities) · [CSV](/v1/datasets/robot-fatalities?format=csv).

## See also

- [How many people have robots killed?](/how-many-people-have-robots-killed.md): the verdict-first answer page.
- [Robotaxi safety record](/robotaxi-safety-record.md): every recall, crash, and investigation by operator.
- [Robot recalls and safety incidents](/robot-recalls-and-safety-incidents.md): the full verified ledger.
- [Are robotaxis safe?](/explainers/are-robotaxis-safe.md)
- [All incidents](/incidents.md) · [Fatal incidents](/incidents?kind=fatality)

_Verified incident counts; complaints and unfiled reports are tracked separately. Retracted duplicates are suppressed from the count but stay reachable at their own URL._

_API: GET /v1/datasets/robot-fatalities · canonical URL: /robot-fatalities-on-record_