I agree with what you are saying, and that it would be very dangerous to sell cars where drivers may be lulled into complacency of thinking they don't need to p

I agree with what you are saying, and that it would be very dangerous to sell cars where drivers may be lulled into complacency of thinking they don't need to pay attention to the road, until self driving cars get good enough that human attention really isn't needed. However, these are test vehicles. The driver's full-time job is to be focused on the road and what the car is doing. They shouldn't have any misconceptions about the need for them to stay focused on the road. Now granted, even then attention will lapse occasionally, just like it does when you are actually driving. But I don't think that being physically in control of the wheel is necessary for maintaining focus at the same level as a good driver. Driver's Ed instructors need this skill. Also some back seat drivers I know are quite good at maintaining strong focus on the road regardless of who is driving :)