The transition to self-driving cars may be bumpier than you think

Like it or not, driverless cars and trucks are headed our way. Experts say autonomous vehicles will make getting from point A to point B easier and much safer -- in part because they'll save us from our own bad habits. "Human drivers regularly get behind the wheel impaired by alcohol and drugs and drive when they are fatigued and distracted," Deborah Hersman, CEO of the Itasca, Illinois-based National Safety Council, told NBC News in an email. "It will be easier to design cars that drive themselves than put an end to the persistent behavioral challenges of the last century." Hersman is bullish on autonomous vehicles.