AI Self-Driving Cars Can Be Stumped When Trying To Get A Car Wash

Dr. Lance Eliot, AI Insider

[Ed. Note: For reader’s interested in Dr. Eliot’s ongoing business analyses about the advent of self-driving cars, see his online Forbes column: https://forbes.com/sites/lanceeliot/]

The other day I went to my local car wash here in California.

After getting my car washed, I was provided with a coupon that said if it rained within the next 48 hours that I could come back for a free car wash.

When I showed this to a colleague visiting here from the East Coast, he was surprised about the coupon and said he had never heard of such a thing being provided to car wash customers.

I was surprised that he was surprised, since this is a pretty customary offer here in California and has been as long as I can remember.

The basis for the coupon is that though we rarely get rain, there’s a paltry 12 inches of rain per year in Los Angeles and it occurs on only about 35 days of the year.

Today, there are places in California that have outlawed doing car washing at your home, so if you want to get a car wash, you’ve got no choice but to go to a professional one.

The basis for the law is that you might tend to waste water when washing your car…