I don't think that is the blocker. You can pass a law that says "manufacturers that meet XYZ self-driving certification are exempt from liability".

The question of liability is always tough to resolve. Is Boeing responsible for the 737 MAX deaths because they wrote the faulty software? Is the airline responsible for poor training or buying the version without the "disagree" light? Or is the FAA liable for their poor oversight of the whole program? Arguments can be made for all three.

Selfdriving.. oh wait, this is in the air, where there's no traffic and all these different situations. And wait, it was not even an autopilot. Even this was too hard to implement.

Lane-assist on the highway? Sure.. autopilot? Not any time soon. Probably not within 20 years

Exactly, this is also a legal one. I'm curious what happens when we get human driven cars crashing into auto piloted. Are we going to have an assumption of guilt on the human or the auto or will it actually be balanced.