As a counterpoint, I personally have had a few notable sensor failures, culminating in an incident when I was 17 that convinced me that I was not safe to operat

As a counterpoint, I personally have had a few notable sensor failures, culminating in an incident when I was 17 that convinced me that I was not safe to operate motor vehicles. No injuries or damage, but I still don't own a car, and my decision is reaffirmed every time I catch a ride from someone and try to follow along to see how it goes. You may have experienced fewer sensor failures than you've seen Teslas having in the news. But... you're exactly one person, and you're hearing the news about every "sensor failure" that Tesla has had in the entire world. And beyond that, a sensor failure is defined as an event that you don't experience. How many times have you only avoided death by pure chance? Tesla's "notable sensor failures" are literally an every-day occurrence for the mark-one eyeball. The semi crash you're talking about? Humans do exactly that with such regularity that the EU mandates guard rails under the beds of semi trailers. The difference is that, for Tesla's "sensor failures", obviously things improve with time. You think that humans do the same? Our cars are better, signage and visibility technology are better, but I guarantee you that today's drivers are, in aggregate, the same dumb-ass teenagers that they have been for the last hundred years. And that's why I support Tesla. We can argue forever about whether they're safer than humans today, because driving is such a personal thing that nobody is willing to disentangle their anecdotes from data, but it is obvious that automated vehicles will be safer than humans in the near future. Possibly the very near future.