I think the self driving stories on HN have consistently underestimated human drivers and overestimated the tech and hand waved away the myriad challenges. The

I think the self driving stories on HN have consistently underestimated human drivers and overestimated the tech and hand waved away the myriad challenges. There is something deeply unpleasant about underestimating people and underestimating the problem is generally not a great way to solve it. In the real world hundreds of millions of drivers have been driving on extremely varied roads and traffic conditions all over the world for decades. Given the sheer scale and volume of drivers, conditions and cars involved it appears self driving proponents are massively overplaying the safety card and worse with little to no data for the other side. Any ai vehicle that requires new kinds of roads or contraints is a completely different ball game and cannot be compared to human drivers. Trains are far safer and in many cases faster than cars. Yet the train story in the US has remained dire for decades making ai safety proponents look self serving. Technology does not exist in a vaccum, it is to benefit us and things like cars are tecnological as much as social and political. A car gives you basic transportation but also the freedom to go wherever you want. Having ai cars, constraints for them and control that could limit mobility and freedom then become more than techology issues in which the voice of society becomes far more important than the people creating the technology.