Like many here, I resent our robot overlords.
Lol,... This
My wife has an Outback with Eyesight and while its awesome in stop and go traffic or on the highway the automatic braking has done its share of making me upset. In Florida we have a lot of 4 and 6 lane roads where traffic will back up in one of the lanes and the other lanes are clear. I have had several situations where I notice this up ahead and signal to change lanes begin to merge only to have the Eyesight determine I'm approaching the car in front of me too fast even though I'm changing lanes and brake me right as I'm merging into the next lane. This could potentially cause another car in the lane I'm merging into to run into the back of me. Likewise on I-95 I was passing a semi and it began to drift into my lane, to avoid being hit I drifted a little toward the left shoulder. The Lane assist began to jerk my wheel back toward the truck and it became a small game of tug of war with the car to avoid getting hit by the truck. There's nuisances that still need to be worked out. I'm not completely convinced full autonomy is going to work either, but this half measure isn't perfect. Unfortunately people (like my wife) are convinced this is autonomous enough to allow greater and greater distractions on the road.
And this is exactly why I do not want or need any of these techno-nannies on my vehicles... I don't want to have to argue, plead or bargain with my car when I decide to do what it may deem as irrational or illogical.
For the posters that point to planes, trains and ships as pioneering autonomous technology that is safe...
Planes - According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there are
5,000 planes flying in U.S. airspace at any given time as of 2014.
How many airplanes are in the air right now? (at https://www.reference.com/vehicles/many-airplanes-air-right-now-b5ae539cb8eabc27 )
Trains - As we know run on dedicated tracks with little to no overlapping/intersecting rails for miles at a time.
Ships - the U.S.-flag domestic cargo fleet supporting this massive inland and ocean trade was made up of more than
38,000 vessels
Dallas, TX - Number of Vehicles Currently Registered:
23,886,263 as of 2016.
New York City, NY - Number of Vehicles Registered:
2,107,321 as of 2015... And this is JUST the City, not the State
Los Angeles, CA - Number of Vehicles Registered:
7,533,131 as of 2015.
To add to the sheer number of vehicles on the road, we have intersections, on and off ramps, gas-station and mall entrances/exits about every 100-200 feet. Not to mention pedestrians, wild-life, bicyclists and other natural hazards like, rain, snow and winds when separated from other 2-40 ton vehicles by near inches.
So saying autonomous vehicles can be done and can work at present,
on the premise that planes, trains and ships already have "versions" of that technology is comparing Apples to Elevators.
Can a completely autonomous vehicle happen??? Probably, but not without MAJOR changes in the infrastructure and management of our Highway and travel systems... And we may be a good decade or two away.