A robot killed a man at a Volkswagen factory, and many believe it is a hoax because Sarah O’Connor, the person, who broke the story seems to be a character from the Terminator series. Despite the fact that Volkswagen is blaming human error for the accident, experts say the 22-year-old man’s family could win if they sue.
A robot kills a man at a Volkswagen factory in Germany, and the company is more or less blaming the victim for his own death.
The story takes another bizarre twist because one of the first reporters, who published the sad story, is named Sarah O’Connor. Moreover, many were confused and thought that it was a joke because her name sounds like Sarah Connor from the Terminator series where men, women and children are often killed by machines.
The young man was an external contractor at the Volkswagen factory in Baunatal, Germany, which mainly functions with robots, according to experts:
Over the last three decades, automobile factories have become dominated by robots. A typical factory contains hundreds of industrial robots working on fully automated production lines, with one robot for every ten human workers. On an automated production line, a vehicle chassis on a conveyor is welded, glued, painted and finally assembled at a sequence of robot stations.
According to Heiko Hillwig, a representative for the German automobile manufacturer, the 22-year-old man was grabbed by a giant stationary robot, which crushed him against a metal plate. The employee died on his way to the hospital.
The victim was installing the robot that is used to build electric engines for Volkswagen and apparently took the fatal decision to be inside the metal safety cage with the electro-mechanical machine. Another worker, who stayed behind the barrier was not harmed, and the robot was not damaged. Hillwig added:
“…initial conclusions indicate that human error was to blame.”
German police are investigating the matter. Financial Times employment correspondent, Sarah O’Connor, who was first to report on the story, is asking people to take the issue seriously. However, people are still asking her Terminator-related questions despite the fact that she has never seen the movie.
_ Ok. I should have thought about my name & its associations before tweeting this!
Sigh. I’ve never even watched the films. Now my feed is full of people tweeting me about skynet.
What are your thoughts on Volkswagen’s response?
A robot has killed a worker in a VW plant in Germany http://t.co/RRdCnNmbsj
— Sarah O'Connor (@sarahoconnor_) July 1, 2015
Feeling really uncomfortable about this inadvertent Twitter thing I seem to have kicked off. Somebody died. Let's not forget.
— Sarah O'Connor (@sarahoconnor_) July 1, 2015
