I noticed last year that in Germany...the government had ordered the national authority over roads to formulate operating procedures/laws to be changed, etc....and basically gave two years to deliver the method where a driverless car could operate. No one says it’ll happen in the next two or three years...but the fact that they envision it coming is a pretty big sign.
I think by 2020, you will have optional packages which you can order in some high-cost cars where the driver just sits there and the car operates itself. We probably will all laugh over the introduction but it’s merely a sign of acceptance.
I’m sure people will try, like AT&T tried to mass market a picturephone.
The technology to make it possible was broadband internet. Now we have Skype etc.
Broadband internet everywhere a car needs to go, plus accurate road tracking rain or shine, will be a must. Even GPS is far too coarse.
And current sensor failures are sometimes ludicrous. The side of a light colored truck registers as sky.