> rather, they're going to go by the complete plotting of the traffic grid with lidar being there for object-avoidance. This is Google's model and they are furthest along
Indeed, and that's how autopilot driven buses, that were around for at least a decade, work. Except their movement trajectories are predetermined, and they are very slow, and stop at every obstacle imaginable.
You also say lidar isn't a crutch because self-driving cars aren't ever really going to be able to go by image recognition and enough logic to know what to do - rather, they're going to go by the complete plotting of the traffic grid with lidar being there for object-avoidance. This is Google's model and they are furthest along - and set-up in Arizona where the unpredictable is kept to the minimum.