Re: Highway neutrality
The sooner people stop driving cars the better for everybody. Want to drive, do a track day.
I want one of these JohnnyCabs, I really do. I'll use mine to commute to work, while either working, sleeping, or relaxing. It will be so much cheaper, faster, more reliable, and less stressfull than public transport.
However, that is the only journey I'll be using it for; You'll get my car keys from my cold dead hands.
I enjoy driving. I've spent a lot of time and money over the last 20 years to become an excellent driver. Not one who merely thinks he's good, but one that can back that up either on the road, or on a track.
I hold a couple of advanced test passes, have done skid pan training, and many many track days and car handling events.
I have the best part of 20 years no claims bonus to verify my safety on the road, and I have never had points or a speed awareness course.
During that time, I've driven every car like I stole it, and routinely broken the speed limit where I felt it was safe to do so. When I'm driving I make all of the decisions because I bear all the responsibility.
JohnnyCabs won't be safer than I am, but they may one day be as safe. They will be convenient, and for that I may be willing to compromise a little of my safety. What they will also be, is significantly safer than the average driver, but that is mostly because the average driver is an idiot who is only peripherally aware of their surroundings and puts as much thought into their actions as your typical celebrity puts into advancing the boundaries of rocket science.
Beware advocating the abolition of activities the general public don't excel at, because you'll find yourself tied to a Surface with only user level access sooner than you can say "But I know what I'm doing!"