SELF-DRIVING LAS VEGAS SHUTTLE HAS ACCIDENT IN FIRST HOUR OF OPERATION

Las Vegas celebrated the historic launch of its new self-driving shuttle bus pilot program on Wednesday. It worked great, right up until it was hit by a semi-truck in its first hour of operation. The shuttle can transport up to 12 passengers and has an attendant and computer monitor, but no steering wheel and no brake pedals. It runs a three-block route, has sensors to map out the road around it, cameras to pick up obstacles in its path, and GPS so its operators can track it in real time. But none of those systems can control other drivers on the road. The semi hit the shuttle – not hard, there was only a dent – and the shuttle turned off its route and took itself out of service.
* Now it’s afraid to go out again.
* An autonomous Las Vegas bus in an accident its first hour. What are the odds?
* How is the Las Vegas shuttle like a Las Vegas gambler? They both say, “Hit me.”
* Computer monitor, sensors, cameras and GPS. How about a mechanical finger it can flip to human drivers?