The Challenger accident was a very public disaster for NASA. When McDonnell Douglas felt the effects of management complacency resulting in DC-10 crashes, the p

The Challenger accident was a very public disaster for NASA. When McDonnell Douglas felt the effects of management complacency resulting in DC-10 crashes, the public perception that the jet was unsafe doomed the company. If a driver-less car has a "minor" accident due to a technical glitch, it wouldn't achieve the same level of notoriety. The Ford/Bridgestone defective tire incident is a classic example of management complacency causing accidents, but because it was a series of accidents without graphic video for the news story, it didn't achieve the same level of public awareness. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_and_Ford_tire_controversy#Possible_causes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_and_Ford_tire_controv... Both Ford and Bridgestone companies were able to "compartmentalize" the fallout and stay in business.