By 3 News online staff
A man who dressed up as Batman to visit sick children in hospital and made internet famous after being pulled over by police has died in a car crash.
Known as the Route 29 Batman, 51-year-old Lenny Robinson of the US state of Maryland often visited children with life-threatening illnesses dressed as the Caped Crusader, and had his own custom-made black Lamborghini complete with the Bat signal.
He died on Sunday (US time), after being hit by another car when he was tending to his broken down Batmobile on the side of the highway, after coming back from a car show in West Virginia, the Washington Post reports.
Just hours earlier, Mr Robinson had stopped at a gas station where he met a family whose children were interested in the car.
True to form, he gave them some superhero memorabilia before leaving around the same time as the family.
The family saw the accident happen around 10:30pm.
Police say Mr Robinson was checking his engine after having trouble with it and had stopped partially in the fast lane. The Batmobile was hit by a Toyota Camry, and the Batmobile then hit Mr Robinson. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mr Robinson made his fortune in the cleaning business and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on his costume, car and memorabilia he gave to children which was always signed 'Batman'.
He shot to internet stardom in 2012 when a police car dashcam recorded officers pulling the Lamborghini over, and Mr Robinson in his full get-up got out of the car and shook the officers' hands.
One officer laughed, saying: "You can send me Robin if you wish".
Mr Robinson's brother Scott paid tribute to him, saying "he touched a lot of lives and made a lot of kids smile. That's all he wanted to do."
"There will never be another Lenny Robinson."
The driver of the car which hit the Batmobile wasn't injured and because the crash is still under investigation, no charges have yet been filed.
3 News
