Re: The whole driverless car thing
So they're lying to us about all those deaths and injuries on the road? And all those cars parked willy-nilly blocking everything must be an illusion?
Road safety is a complicated problem. These points that can be readily solved, and at a much lower cost, by ameliorating public transportation. But of course then you'd have to bear the other people using the same, which I know can be quite unnerving.
Please explain how autonomous cars would solve parking issues?
As for the neurosis part, I don't see where you are headed, but I don't suppose the idea of driverless thousand-kilogram masses of metal zipping around town is going to help with parents' neuroses. At least most human drivers are expected to show empathy, or fear of retaliation, or both. Running over another human being is quite horrifying for most of us, just look at the expression on the passenger's face in the Über accident. Most people would do almost anything in their power to avoid this, including putting themselves in immediate danger. Would an autonomous car put itself and its passenger in danger, should the choice arise? If so, they're probably not going to sell very well, as altruistic tendencies in people generally don't extend to accepting a sales pitch ending with "Oh, and the car will attempt suicide, possibly maiming you in the process, in order to protect innocent passerbys' lives".
I know that these cars have much better sensors than the typical human, but why not use these sensors' readings to raise the driver's attention instead of attempting to replace the human behind the wheel? A lot of cars already do that, to some extent.