Another issue is, would people board a fully-automated plane? Similarly, it seems many people see self-driving cars as a solution that other people should use,

Another issue is, would people board a fully-automated plane? Similarly, it seems many people see self-driving cars as a solution that other people should use, but they are, themselves, the competent drivers who don't need that kind of thing. I can foresee other issues with hacking firmware by drivers, people cracking the software as with the recent Jeep exploits, and actual software bugs leading to death or injury and the class-action lawsuits that might give rise to. There are behavioural issues as well: people deliberately cutting in on autonomous vehicles because (rather than aggressive tail-gating) the AV will just back safely away, so that dangerous behaviour will become more commonplace. Before we get onto pedestrians just stepping into the road in the serene assurance that the AV will shudder to a halt for them, to the discomfort (possibly injury) of the vehicle's occupants. I can see people doing that kind of thing just for a lark, which would encourage drivers to go for the "aggressive" firmware upgrade to put those jaywalkers back in their place. Personally I think (a) we'll get these vehicles sooner or later, but (b) they won't be a panacea, and (c) it's going to be an absolute minefield in technical, social and legal areas.