No human driver? No, that won't happen
We have had the technology to fully automate just about every form of transport *except* road vehicles for decades. Ships would be a doddle once clear of port until they meet the pilot vessel at the other end. Trains even easier. Aircraft can take off, fly the whole route and land without the pilot needing to touch most of the controls once, and automating the few tasks that must still be done manually and converting air traffic control from spoken instructions to digital commands would be relatively trivial.
The fact is that apart from a few short automated rail transport systems such as airport shuttles and vehicles used within factory and farm environments where they pose no danger to the general public, we don't trust computers to be able to cope with all possible situations, and so we demand that a human is "in control" even if that human is only monitoring the computers most of the time (as they are on many aircraft and ships). Cars are unlikely to be given a general go-ahead for driverless operation, because the current state of AI is *way* behind the capabilities of the human brain to recognise and react to sudden unusual events, even if it is better at dealing with everyday situations. If we are not comfortable with driverless freight trains we will certainly not condone driverless lorries.
There is also the matter of criminal acts. An unmanned container ship or oil tanker would not pose any significant threat that a manned vessel does not pose, but would be a far easier target to hijack or steal from. The possibility of a hacked car being used to kidnap a celebrity or child is also something to bear in mind.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
