I think it's pretty clear that the bar for safety must be much higher (10x) than human-level for these to be accepted by consumers. Auto accidents are very common, and the first time someone has an accident with a car like this everyone they know will hear about it. It will be terrifying. If these are only as safe on average as a human driver then nearly everyone is going to have at the very least a 2nd-hand negative experience.
The emotional response to these accidents is not going to be entirely irrational either. If I have a minor accident with my traditional truck, I'm going to probably have a good understanding of what went wrong and how I can prevent future collisions. With an autonomous vehicle... software upgrade? I'd rather take responsibility for my own safety if that's the case.
The emotional response to these accidents is not going to be entirely irrational either. If I have a minor accident with my traditional truck, I'm going to probably have a good understanding of what went wrong and how I can prevent future collisions. With an autonomous vehicle... software upgrade? I'd rather take responsibility for my own safety if that's the case.