You would have hit the brakes only if you were paying attention, not texting, changing the radio, angry at something, driving while high or drunk, or a thousand other distractions that normal drivers face every minute.
Under perfect conditions, an autonomous car will never have any of the normal driving failures we humans have.
If traffic fatalities really can be reduced by tens of thousands each year, then I’m fine with driverless cars.
Bring ‘em on.
And if in the meantime a less than perfect autonomous car runs over an idiot who should have not been on the street, then oh well. Too bad for her.
If that object in the road had been a Cow, or perhaps a girder dropped off a truck, it would have possibly killed everyone riding in the driverless car.
A system that cannot detect objects in the road should not be permitted on the road.