You are right in saying that autonomous cars, as we envision them for the near future, require some form of "proper" infrastructure to be able to perform (safel

You are right in saying that autonomous cars, as we envision them for the near future, require some form of "proper" infrastructure to be able to perform (safely). However you are wrong in seemingly thinking that this infrastructure will never come. As with many technologies, it is the infrastructure that is important ( cell phones vs cellular network, ethernet-enabled computers vs the ISP broadband installations, iPhone vs iTunes store, etc...). Here it is similar and it is not so far fetched to think that in some future the road system will be modified in some ways in order to accommodate level 5 autonomous cars and people. For example, the city of Drachten in the Netherlands has no traffic lights, road signage (stop signs, etc...) at all. They modified their infrastructure and got better pedestrian security. From Wikipedia: "Drachten received international attention for a traffic experiment known as shared space, a concept pioneered by Hans Monderman. Almost all traffic lights and signs have been removed in the town's centre in an effort to improve traffic safety, based on the theory that drivers pay more attention to their surroundings when they cannot rely on strict traffic rules. Previously the town's centre had an average of 8 accidents per year. In the first two years after the system was introduced, yearly accidents were reduced to 1." It would be very interesting to see how level-5 autonomous cars would fare in Drachten...