Re: Lesser of two evils?
Meph, indeed. However how will the clever car handle the willfully dangerous ? Think of drunks, druggies and the inevitable clown in a BMW/Merc/light truck with a severe ego problem ? IMHO, skepticism of the merchants is warranted. The best way to sell driving automation is already slowly happening by implementing driver assistance. Cruise control, automatic collision detection and lane drift prevention. As these become standard and extended to, for instance, something that prevents compulsive tailgaters, user acceptance will rise as well as vehicle manufacturers and their coders getting improved edge case management. Incremental improvements over a decade or two may also allow laws to be adapted appropriately insteady of panic driven. No pun in 10d. In long term a mostly self driving car is a great goal. Whether it is currently practical I believe debatable.
Comparison with aviation autopilots in cars is a category confusion. Airfields have the same design, (mostly flat) and fixed wing aircraft have similar characteristics to control for. Also as some-one else has commented, civilian aircraft rarely come close by design and the only ones that do, gliders, have pilots trained in this type of aviation and are not transport vehicles in built up areas. Vehicles are the opposite, close together and often very different speeds.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
