...and these are just the technical limitations of the autonomous car + driver system. There would appear to be immense potential liability in selling a product

...and these are just the technical limitations of the autonomous car + driver system. There would appear to be immense potential liability in selling a product that is explicitly billed as being safer than human drivers, but which is a) different and b) going to fail, sometimes catastrophically. I'd be surprised if autonomous cars become widespread before the last human train conductor is decruited. Driving a train is a simpler problem in a lot of ways, and yet we still feel the need for people in those jobs.