I think we are talking about two distinct policy goals here: 1) humans, including children, should be able to move through the public realm safely, no matter

I think we are talking about two distinct policy goals here: 1) humans, including children, should be able to move through the public realm safely, no matter if they walk or bike 2) we do not want all the space in cities to be taken up by cars Self-driving cars help with reaching goal number 1 partially, but it is not sufficient. Bike paths and other non-car infrastructure is also needed. In terms of goal number 2, self-driving cars might open up a political chance to ban on-street parking. You're right that they alone won't fix the problem, but I think they don't make it worse either. Traffic in cities is already limited by capacity, not by demand.