Carnage followed the first automobile. How many deaths will we accept from self-driving cars?
https://qz.com/1233563/ubers-first-self-driving-car-death-raises-questions-about-acceptable-levels-of-autonomous-vehicle-safety/
For the first time, a self-driving car just caused a fatality on a public road. It won’t be the last. Every country considering approving autonomous vehicles as road-ready must now answer a question for itself in real time: what risks are they willing to accept ?
Ultimately, experts tell us, autonomous vehicles will be safer, cheaper, and more convenient. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates 103 people are killed in the US in motor-vehicle accidents every day, and more than 94% of crashes are due to driver error (pdf). Autonomous vehicle could virtually eliminate a entire category of lethal crashes (although statisticians contend the actual safety benefit remains to be proven).