I actually live in Virginia. We get snow and rain just as much as any where else in the N.E. USA.

However our yearly precipitation is ~132 days, where each of those isn't a straight 24 hours of rain or snowfall.

I wouldn't find it terrible to buy a self-driving car that runs 2/3rds of the year without any problems, and I need to drive personally if and only if I must go out during heavy rain or snowfall instead of waiting 1 hour for the rain to stop.

Right now, many times I just wait for the rain to stop before going out because there isn't anything pressing or time sensitive about needing groceries on a Tuesday.

What you said -- plus: the last thing you want is a car that 'self drives' until the conditions suddenly change at high speeds and the half-aware driver is forced to take over unprepared and unalert and convinced that his/her car is supposed to be driving for them.

Exactly, if we are forcing drivers to stay focused on the road with hands on the wheel. It's not "self driving", as in it's not level 5 autonomy