It is unlikely that East Hampton is going to have food delivered by robot any time soon but I wouldn’t rule it out if history is any guide.
Half-listening to the radio the other day, I heard something about tiny Uber Eats autonomous carts creeping slowly all over Jersey City. Apparently, some local ne’er-do-wells amuse themselves by tipping the robots on their sides or putting plastic bags over their optical sensors. I admit that I would like to see this hilarity for myself.
A near-absolute absence of sidewalks — or even road shoulders — would seem at first look to make robots and existing traffic incompatible. However, there was a time when the horse-drawn wagons that ruled the roads gave way to automobiles.
The East Hampton Library Long Island Collection offers a few clues about the earliest autocars in town. While a precise date has so far eluded me, it is clear that by 1915 they were common among the summer colony. An account of a parade down Main Street on the Fourth of July that year described the many decorated cars taking part. The actor John Drew served as master of ceremonies and announced with chagrin that the prize for most artistic vehicle went to Josephine Drew, his wife.
Motor cars on Long Island were common enough in the first decade of the 20th century that the Long Island Rail Road was nearly at a loss as to how to prevent dangerous contact between trains and vehicles, police having other priorities in those days.
In August 1908 the railroad warned that it would place sharp-eyed men at rail crossings to watch for automobiles moving at excessive speed. Registered owners of vehicles determined to have been moving too fast were to have their identities supplied to newspapers, humiliation being a perceived deterrent.
The company stationed observers at a crossing on the Merrick Road. Nearly half of the 310 automobiles that went over the train tracks did so without any regard for the crossing signal or flagman. “Several of this number barely escaped being crashed into by trains, and one man driving a car cursed the flagman for trying to stop him.”
Just 17 came to a full stop. However, of that number, 11 had no choice; they were prevented from crossing by trains standing on the track.
Eventually, crossing gates came in. Horse-drawn carriages gave way to automobiles. And I see no reason that we won’t soon see the robots on Main.