From Dave McGlade
Hal Hodson underestimates the difficulty that public opinion represents when it comes to self-driving cars. He assumes that if these vehicles can be shown to be safe, people will accept that they are. But that is not how people behave – the fall in vaccination rates reported elsewhere in the same issue is an example.
Additionally, if the cars are publicly owned, there are issues such as availability, graffiti and cleanliness, all of which would encourage people to have their own autonomous car. Thus the impact of this technology on reducing congestion will be negligible. Technical problems, however hard they appear, are rather easier to solve than those requiring a change of habit, attitude and culture.
Southampton, UK
