General Road and Highway Discussion

[Viewfromthe42]

[quote pid='12421' dateline='1444788284']
Also keep in mind that the bar isn't zero accidents but less than 11 million accidents, which is the present number of car accidents in America per year.  The google car automated driving experience (3 million miles, a handful of accidents) suggest that present technology has already achieved met this bar.

[/quote]

The bar may not be zero accidents, but it will have to be an enormous reduction (i.e. 50-99% reduction, regardless of uptake).

The simplest explanation for this is gun control in the States. Virtually all experts agree that reducing the prevalence, availability, and lethality of guns in America will reduce their developed-world-leading gun death rate. But Americans will look at the ~1 in 10,000 Americans dying by gun in their country when armed by choice (and perceived ability to defend themselves if they are presented with a hostile armed person), and be told that we can make it only 1 in 20,000 Americans dying by gun in their country, but that it will require that they have no choice (no guns to defend themselves against any hostile armed person), and they will all-but-assuredly tell you to bugger off, they'd rather have 10-100 times as many people die by guns, so long as they believe that they can intervene should they wind up in a threatening situation.

The (misguided) sense of control is far more valuable than actual safety. Just ask parents who move out of cities and into less dense places: they often cite safety, even as less dense neighbourhoods and rural areas are noticeably *less* safe for their children, even
as the mistaken perception is the reverse.