Self driving cars, pedestrians and cyclists

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https://plus.google.com/111118414189048552116

 The nay-sayers will try to throw tacks in the road in front of this project. Personally, I can't wait for them to become commonplace. I suspect one unintended consequence of self-driving vehicles will be a huge improvement in the safety and confidence of pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users. 

I live up  a rural lane in Scotland and sadly we're reluctant to let our under-14 kids cycle alone to see their friends/attend local activities. Not all drivers are complete idiots, but most see nothing wrong with skimming past a pedestrian/cyclist on a road with no footpath at 30/40/50mph or more, just inches away. (BTW, I have access to and regularly drive two vehicles, before I get accused of being anti-motorist. I just want a future in which passing a cyclist the same as I would another car - i.e. waiting for a gap on the other side of the road - is not seen as loony.)

Presumably once they advance enough for general sale, these vehicles would be able to safely pass much closer and faster. 

But you have to expect that public outcry will make sure that does not happen and in future pedestrians may glance at oncoming vehicles to see if there's a human at the wheel - and take evasive action only if there is. 

While deaths will probably be reduced more than 90% by common use of these vehicles, the consequences of a fatal accident under computer control will undoubtedly be an outcry and a call from the "petrol-heads" for such vehicles to be banned. 

Hopefully before that happens enough people will have been persuaded that the huge reduction in deaths and serious injuries is worth acknowledging that no safety-critical system can ever be 100% guaranteed.

This will be even more challenging than building and designing software for the vehicle and its sensors.  

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