A self driving bus in Las Vegas was celebrating its launch when it got a rude welcome to the real world in the form of a semi truck. According to The Verge, the shuttle had a two week test period in January and was in its first day of service, offering free autonomous rides to people in Vegas around a 0.6 mile loop.
The Truck was deemed to be at-fault as it pulled out in front of the bus and then scraped the front of the bus. The LAS Vegas city government was quick to defend the bus on its Tumblr page, posting:
"The autonomous shuttle was testing today when it was grazed by a delivery truck downtown. The shuttle did what it was supposed to do, in that it's sensors registered the truck and the shuttle stopped to avoid the accident. Unfortunately the delivery truck did not stop and grazed the front fender of the shuttle. Had the truck had the same sensing equipment that the shuttle has the accident would have been avoided. Testing of the shuttle will continue during the 12-month pilot in the downtown Innovation District. The shuttle will remain out of service for the rest of the day. The driver of the truck was cited by Metro."
Sure, an autonomous shuttle crashing on its first day is pretty funny (Since no one was hurt), but it gets even better:
Was a good morning riding on the first self driving vehicle in Vegas! @CWPennandTeller prob felt safer than with me!? @AAA_NCNU innovation! pic.twitter.com/85S3JD4hg9
— Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick) November 8, 2017
Now, Danica was not on the bus when it crashed later that day, but the coincidence is sure to spawn hundreds of driver-intro-worthy jokes about Patrick just happening to ride the same self driving bus that crashed on its first day.
Related: The driver introductions for Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin at Texas were absolutely hilarious
So if there is a lesson here, it might just be to not let Danica anywhere near your cars, whether she is driving or not, something might just happen.