Not magical, but you have to pick something. I suspect the goal is to pick a number that most would think is better than an experienced, awake, attentive (not

Not magical, but you have to pick something. I suspect the goal is to pick a number that most would think is better than an experienced, awake, attentive (not looking at a phone) human at the wheel. So even the safest drivers would be safer on the road as the number of autonomous driven cars increases. At only 1.25x it might well be worse than you. Keep in mind that the average safe human driver includes people that are tired, high, drunk, unlicensed, mentally ill, physically compromised, etc. While common, someone getting killed because someone is drunk or asleep is much more acceptable than having a computer make a mistake. If we want society as a whole to accept autonomous cars it's best to show a clear benefit to society, not just better than 51% of drivers.