I think Ford, GM, etc are right in the long run. There are so many edge cases in driving a car (blown tire, hydroplaning, uncertain intention of an oncoming driver), I would not trust a fully driverless car. That said, there is a lot of room for innovation with automatic braking and collision avoidance that will reduce accident rates and severity, maybe dramatically.

Once most cars are networked and semi-autonomous, lots of things become possible. Example, cars that automatically observe speed limits (which can be dialed down during bad weather). No single measure like this will eliminate all accidents, but each will add to safety.

The problem with too much automation is people become dependent on it and lose skills. This was a critical factor in the Air France flight that stalled and crashed off the coast of Brazil. I'd rather see them focus on helping people be better drivers than taking humans completely out of the loop except on protected roadways.