That doesn't mean a driverless car will be able to avoid any and all collisions with poorly driven human cars. What it means is that if there is any scope for avoiding the collision, the driverless car will always exploit it. And it will exploit it better than any human driver could.
Indeed, it seems nobody is immune. Not even experts. One of the lines above comes from none other than car guru Quentin Willson. Can you guess which one? He's a nice chap, but he couldn't be more wrong.
No more fun
That said, there's one one talking point among all the hysteria that is actually correct.
'This will be an end to driving for fun. Human drivers will be banned.'
That one is bang on. Autonomous will eventually be proven undeniably and dramatically safer than human driven cars. You basically won't ever be killed by a robo car.
What's more, nobody will care about driving when they can Facebook, Instagram and tweet to their heart's content / watch TV / play games / dabble in the stock market / bet on the horses / sleep / whatever to and from work. And do that in total safety and not worry about taking the kids to school or picking them up.
But everyone will remember that lots of people used to die at the hands of human drivers. Human drivers will be seen as a risk to everyone else.
Think about that and ask yourself if you honestly think the vast majority are going to allow a small minority to threaten their safety in the name of pleasure seeking when that small minority can always drive their cars on private roads and tracks?
It's not going to happen. Instead, human drivers will almost definitely be banned. It's just a question of how long it take.
Right now, that seems a very draconian restriction of freedom. But in time, it will actually be what all of us want.
It's a bit like, say, smoking on planes. Used to be the norm. Now seems a bit bonkers to have hundreds of people setting fire to things at 30,000ft.
So it will be with human driven cars and deaths on our roads. Seems normal now. But it will look horrifying and insane in the future. And we will be relieved that humans are no longer allowed to drive so dangerously.
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