Not to get personal, but I'm getting tired of seeing this argument.

Why are people looking at the extremes? Only human drivers or a completely self driven car? What about a driver assistance system, that corrects a Human's stupid mistakes and still lets the human drive. I'm sure this hybrid (which is the current industry) is safer than both your extremes

It's true, but is it better?

Are there statistics?

It's true that humans do stupid things, but so do robots.

What would be _safer_ is an automated "hit" avoid system (if you're about to hit a wall, warn!!) or long distance driving system (for trucks/buses).

It has be better than the best human driver or they'll get sued out of existance. You can't sell a product that you know will hurt or kill a certain number of people.

What happened to worst case analysis? Don't we all know the flaws of best case?

I think (and I could be wrong) that there are many more cases where conservative driving is safer than aggressive driving.

In a lot of the cases mentioned, doing nothing or stopping are the safest choices. What's safe to drive over? Just assume everything is unsafe and only drive over it if it puts others in danger to avoid it.

If the road is blocked and you need to communicate to navigate, don't. Wait.

If the road conditions are changed due to construction in ways the car can't understand, stop. Find a new route.

Most humans wouldn't do these things. The nice thing about the autonomous car is that it can drive extremely cautiously.

I'm pretty sure the car industry has been doing that for years.

They get sued if they knowingly sell a defective product.

Sorry no. Cars kill thousands of people every year, and will continue to do so. Car companies are doing just fine. Power companies literally kill millions every year, a-ok. McDonalds, Coca Cola ? ditto.

Drivers kill, not the cars. That's totally different from an autonomous car killing someone. Humans make mistakes. That's different from a defective product.

I feel like debate about autonomous cars extends ideas of "who's to blame -- the human or the gun?"

And then it gets fixed, just like with current defects on current cars. Why should it be any different ?