They are not driverless. “a driver in the front seat “.
No thanks. I am not going to sit in the “driver’s” seat while a program takes control of my car, watching and waiting for the cursed computer to buzz and flash lights telling me that there is a situation it can’t handle.
If I had been driving we wouldn’t be in that situation.
Automation can work in a controlled situation in which nothing unexpected happens. There is no street or highway anywhere in the world where nothing unexpected happens.
I suppose that it might be possible for automated cars to operate in synchronous fashion on a smart highway that 'slots' cars into the traffic pattern, sort of allows for individual "flight plans". That might work... The problem is getting there. For a significant period of time there would remain human-piloted cars that would be outside the system's control, and so you're right back in the trap of having individual automated cars reacting to unanticipated moves of other vehicles. And that can never be near enough to 100% effective to preclude a significant number of crashes.
“Automation can work in a controlled situation in which nothing unexpected happens. There is no street or highway anywhere in the world where nothing unexpected happens.”
BINGO... well stated. I’ll take my chances with the human element.