I Rode In A Driverless Car, This Is The Future

There was national news coverage this week of driverless cars pulling off to the side of the road in San Francisco due to fog. This wouldn't have been newsworthy if it didn't involve driverless cars--a technology that is still confounding drivers, policymakers, and passengers. At least compared to the average driver, who can get distracted, tired, drunk, speed, or even just make a judgment error--yes. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission, carmakers have submitted a total of 419 autonomous vehicle crash reports since the advent of the technology. That number isn't insignificant, but consider that according to Berkeley's Transportation Injury Mapping System, in San Francisco there were 3,247 car accidents that resulted in injuries, an average of 270 injuries per month, in just 2022 alone.