I think they will be common sooner than most people think.
Every new technology has bugs and failures. Edison’s light bulb, early cars, rocket launches that blow up, computers that crash, etc. Even cars with drivers have failures.
I hope we get driverless by the time I am unable to drive myself. I would hate to be dependent on someone else giving me a ride any time I wanted to go somewhere. I know plenty of old people who can no longer drive and this would give them immense freedom.
If the bugs are worked out, it will IMO make driving much safer. There are plenty of horrible/idiotic human drivers out on the roads. Driverless cars would most likely eliminate tailgating, weaving and swerving, bad merging, red light running, etc.
I know a lot of people who enjoy driving, but no one who enjoys commuting in stop and go traffic. Maybe driverless cars will actually be “hybrids” which let us choose when to drive and when to ride.
Yes, there is a downside. My biggest concern is privacy and tracking of citizens. If I were going to pass legislation on driverless cars (or any cars) my top priority would be to prevent the government or corporations from tracking them.
There are also moral decisions, value questions, presented to human drivers on occasion. I'm wondering how these will be programmed into cars.
The big difference is that people actually wanted those products so the bugs were worked out and they were successful. The market does NOT want driverless cars. The public is being lied to in an attempt to sell them something they instinctively don't want and for countless good reasons most importantly is the threat to individual liberty.
It’s a nice dream. My biggest concern is safety. From what I’ve seen of GPS, it’s not yet reliable. And in terms of safety the tolerance for error is extremely high.
On thing for sure: I don’t want my tax dollars going to headless cars.