A few thoughts:
To those who are touting their own stellar driving experience and many miles driven without an accident as a reason self-driving cars shouldn't be developed... It's great you're a good driver. Me too. We're above average! Guess what? Half of the drivers out there are above average, and except for in Lake Wobegon, the other half are below average. All of us out there behind the wheel start on a learning curve, accumulate experience, most get better and better, until they peak, and then as we get older, response times slow, and we get worse and worse, until we plow into some pedestrians or someone in the family sees it coming first and takes the keys away.
Software isn't infallible, and neither are you. I'm not, either. At some point, well-developed software will get better than the average driver (it might already be there) and will keep getting better. As more and more of these cars are first tested and eventually put out on the road for consumers, they will cumulatively accumulate experience at a rate of millions of miles driven per year. No matter how good and how experienced a driver you are, you won't be able to match the level of experience accumulated by the AI built into some future Apple car. Unlike a blank-slate fifteen-year-old human with a new learner's permit, every new self driving car will come off the dealer lot with millions of miles of driving experience.
It's also pretty inevitable that this technology will employ better means of driver-to-driver communication than a blinking light, a horn, eye contact, or 'the finger.' So the AI will accumulate more experience than is possible for you or I, plus it will be able to communicate directly with other AI drivers using far more data points than you or I can convey.
In one other related thought, it's important to realize how self-driving cars will be a game changer for all of us as we get older. Most people don't live in urban areas sufficiently served by public transportation. We they get old enough that they shouldn't be driving any more, the loss of independence can cause their lives to start on a dramatic downward spiral. Others have to take them places or bring things to them when they can, which is probably not when the older person wants or needs it. Social lives are diminished and the inability to get out and do things hastens physical and mental decline. Other options include moving to various levels of elder care living places, where independence is still pretty limited and you're constantly surrounded by old people waiting to die.
It will be a revolutionary change when an average 90-year old can get up in the morning, slide into the Apple car and go do whatever they want with others of all ages, like anyone else. They'll be able for much longer to continue living a life at home without being a burden on others. That is going to be incredible.
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