&gt; As software is so cheap to duplicate, why can&#x27;t all cars be self-driving? Given the magnitude of traffic deaths, why can&#x27;t all cars just be self-driving immediately?<p>I&#x27;m still feeling surprised by the number of intelligent people who are quite capable of thinking critically, quite <i>uncritically</i> deciding that self-driving cars are ready for the market now. The only thing which comes remotely close is Tesla&#x27;s recent software upgrade, and Elon Musk was very careful to emphasise that it in no way replaces the driver. Yet still, the hype-train is running so fast that people decided what he really said was &quot;self-driving cars are here now.&quot;<p>A moderately successful prototype from Google or anyone else does not mean the problems are solved. These innovations could still go the way of 90s-era virtual reality goggles, flying cars or the personal jet-pack. Don&#x27;t get me wrong, it&#x27;s exciting stuff but there are still significant technical issues, not to mention the legislative and social problems which will inevitably arise.<p>These links from a Google search for &quot;Google self-driving car problems&quot;:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;gizmodo.com&#x2F;6-simple-things-googles-self-driving-car-still-cant-han-1628040470" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;gizmodo.com&#x2F;6-simple-things-googles-self-driving-car-...</a><p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;09&#x2F;02&#x2F;technology&#x2F;personaltech&#x2F;google-says-its-not-the-driverless-cars-fault-its-other-drivers.html?_r=0" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;09&#x2F;02&#x2F;technology&#x2F;personaltech&#x2F;go...</a><p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.technologyreview.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;530276&#x2F;hidden-obstacles-for-googles-self-driving-cars&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.technologyreview.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;530276&#x2F;hidden-obstacles...</a><p>There&#x27;s much more, I can&#x27;t dig out the links now. But don&#x27;t be one of those guys in 10 or 15 years time being tedious about &quot;Dude, where&#x27;s my self-driving car?&quot; It might not happen, and it&#x27;s certainly not here yet.