The US Congress would change the right to bear arms before they would get rid of self driven cars. Cars/Trucks/Dogems are a part of the American Culture.

AI driven cars will not be on the day to day scene for a long time. People like the control too much.!

Intsead, we will see Remotely operated vehicles, such as work vehicles like Dump Trucks, Long Haul Commercial Vehicles, Taxi's, Excavators and and even Disaster Vehicles to go in to areas that are not safe or convenient for humans.

However, the ability to control the "Remote Controlled" vehicles real time with current in place commercial technologies are too problematic, even with 4G Telecoms. The technology for realtime (Virtual Reality) VR Video reaction is just too slow to deal with the issues a operator has in a live traffic environment, human perceptions of all senses such as touch, sounds, body vibrations and general cognitive awareness give more then ever a VR environment can give at the moment. I could imagine driver-staging, where a Remote driver brings the vehicles to a certain point where a human driver takes over once it gets in to a populated area. This allows the Remote person not to have a unsociable job and still spend time with the family and friends without having to sleep at a Roadside in the middle of nowhere.

I understand that we have drones that are controlled by the US Government. But the infrastructure to manage these are not designed for tens of thousands of vehicles or even millions. I have no personal experience of these, but from what I understand, you need a lot of training to operate these vehicles and have to be a qualified pilot. Maybe a constellation of 4000+ satellites, I think I know of someone is thinking of that !!!!.

However, imagine you are a truck driver that has to drive a dangerous heavy load accross the Ice Roads of Canada, driving the truck remotely can potentially save lives, from the comfort of your home. Remotely operated vehicles are needed first so that we can start an investment of infrastructure to at least allow remotely operated vehicles, not AI drivers.

I believe the new features like driver assist like, wake up the driver if you cross lines without indicating, send an alarm if too close to car in front at speed, vibrate the wheel if falling asleep. Many other features which are advancements not replacements such as HUD displays, a see through windscreen that is in fact a TV Screen that would convert night time driving to daylight-like driving. Things that make driving safer for both driver and other road users.

Developing AI is a mistake from a social point of view, if we replace the Human element with AI, then there will be no jobs for the humans. Without a job many humans would loose purpose and society would break down. It was found out long ago by the early Civilisations that humans needs a purpose to prosper such as a trade or Job, a Religion (Something to believe in), and a sense of acheivement or pride. Ask any average retired person what their life is like !.

The best AI a Drunk driver can use to get home is called a Taxi !!.