It’s difficult to teach a machine to react correctly when faced with new or unpredictable situations we frequently encounter while driving. Heaps of engineering effort has gone into cracking this problem. But how do we determine when a vehicle is safe enough?
City and vehicle infrastructure are not yet in place
Expecting individual autonomous vehicles to operate independently is a recipe for disaster.
Each vehicle would have to guess what all the others are doing. Each would rely only on its own limited view of the world, with sensors and cameras that can fail or be obstructed by poor weather or road debris.
It is unclear on who is liable when a crash happens
As long as self-driving features require the driver to be ready to take control, the driver will remain liable for any crashes. Car manufacturers are liable only if there’s a fault in their vehicle. But what happens if an autonomous passenger car causes a crash? Is the manufacturer liable because it designed the system that’s at fault?
In the near future, the first autonomous vehicles will likely be taxis and cargo trucks. Both industries have remained bullish on autonomy for several reasons.
Autonomous vehicles are, alas, still in the future. Here's why you can’t buy a self-driving car today and a place you’re likely to find them first.
