&gt; I&#x27;ll just keep reading articles that say they are 5 years away, just as I did 5 years ago, and the armchair futurists will keep dreaming...<p>I&#x27;m quite surprised that you can be a skeptic on the concept as a whole. Being skeptical about the given timeframes is perfectly reasonable (and probably correct), but humans do so, so many things terribly. We have automated away so many tasks in our world, both for efficiency and safety, that i can&#x27;t even see an argument to counter that.<p>To extend that further then, why shouldn&#x27;t we want human drivers off the roads asap? It&#x27;s a dangerous act that, frankly, many people aren&#x27;t qualified for.<p>Self-driving cars have so much potential behind them, that being a &quot;skeptic&quot; seems quite confusing to me. Just because it&#x27;s a difficult problem, does not warrant giving up. The safety benefits alone, are well, well worth it.