To me a big issue is the perception of the autonomous driving mode to other road users. How will other drivers and pedestrians know that this car is being drive

To me a big issue is the perception of the autonomous driving mode to other road users. How will other drivers and pedestrians know that this car is being driven automatically and treat it accordingly? In the Bosch video[1] (also linked elsewhere on this thread), the system jumps out of autonomous mode at the first junction. The driver has to re-engage it. Drivers who are not closely monitoring the car situation might not realise what's going on and take 5-10 seconds to realise they need to re-engage autonomous mode or to take over fully. Some following-drivers will get agitated by this, in the same way that some do with elderly or learner drivers and make silly impatient manoeuvres. If the state of the autonomous car is clearly communicated to other road users then they might be prepared to make allowances. During this transition phase of mostly human drivers vs. autonomous drivers it will be these situations that frame people's perception of the merits of autonomous vehicles. That and how the systems react to dangerous swerving or lane changing or conflict situations where collisions are impossible to avoid. The "Google system" or the "Tesla system" will be tested millions of times a day and face intense public scrutiny whereas human drivers are treated individually. [1] https://youtu.be/KwD1hjlbhwU https://youtu.be/KwD1hjlbhwU