“They are being tested on a limited basis, in a handful of areas. “
Even regular cars are getting close. Self-braking, adaptive cruise control, lane-following. It is coming.
Check out the latest on Tesla.
Kim afraid that building in “safety” features such as self-braking and so forth just has the effect of enabling even more people to get away with distracted driving.
A few years ago, I saw a study that had found that incorporating more safety gear into sports (e.g. padding and helmets for football) actually caused players to play more aggressively and take more risks. That was because they believed themselves invulnerable with the safety equipment. Same thing with safety features built into cars.
Granted, I do not turn off traction control in my car, which I can do (but why would I not want traction?). But I do not use the cruise control. And I drive a standard, because I want that extra level of control over my car.
I think that building in features to do what human drivers should do, or that allow human drivers to be more lazy and sloppy in their driving habits are not good ideas. They make people stupid, since their brains are not being exercised. Haven’t people been dumbed-down enough already?