Years ago, I was a passenger in a car that ran into a concrete wall, and it left me with many permanent injuries. I am no longer comfortable when I am a passenger, so there is no way I would ever get in a self-driving car. Technology can fail, has failed, and will fail again, and I am not about to put myself in the position of being in a driverless car that could fail.

I, too, have my doubts about this. I'm still capable of driving myself, although retired and not in any need to commute. If weather or traffic is bad, I just stay home.

A couple of years ago, I was at the 6th birthday party of one of my granddaughters. I was teasing my son by saying that in 10 short years she would be getting her driver's license. He was emphatic! No! His reasoning was that she would be a part of the self-driving cars and would not need to learn to drive or get a license. I responded by saying that I would do all my shopping at a 24 hours store in the middle of the night just to avoid all that stuff. When she turns 16, I will be near 80 - too late to change my ways of driving.

Same here Rob. My Grandma on my dads side is 98 and she still drives!! Only to the store & doctors appointments.

Actually she has ran thru 2 buildings by hitting the gas instead of the brake when parking.

But she has nobody to drive her since dad passed away. She's in Florida. I'm in Ohio & my bother & sister on dads side are in Louisiana. So Grandma is in Tampa alone. She does live in assisted living & has all her faculties. Sharp as a tack.

I looked into a driving service but darn those are expensive. And she won't take a bus.

I still look at self-driving cars as a fantasy, but one I really wish would come true. I hate driving. If there were some way for me to be a permanent passenger, I would be all over it!

I love to drive and drive a lot both for work and our private life. At my age, I'm not interested in having a car do things I'd rather do myself. Maybe that perspective will change when I am older. As Rob points out, it will no doubt be a blessing for the many folks who, for whatever reason are unable to drive, the elderly as well as the disabled. In that regard, I think it's amazing and am thrilled that those opportunities will be available for them.

I too love to drive and I enjoy the cars we have. Self-driving cars are like electric cars, the question is When? and not If?. I hope when they become more common that cars driven conventionally will still be accommodated.

Think about it - one of the many benefits will be lanes for self driving cars, communicating to one another and to a network, that will be able to handle much higher speeds and much greater capacity during hours of congestion. That alone will be a huge payoff.

One of the auto makers is currently advertising a car on TV that stops itself when a collision is imminent. Meanwhile driver-less commercial trucks are being tested, and we've all heard about Amazon's efforts to use drones for deliveries. This latter (commercial hauling and delivery) is another area where automation is expected to soon eliminate millions of jobs. It is even predicted that landscape maintenance services are going to become automated.

I had the pleasure of being driven by my almost 17 yr old grandson, yesterday! He waited to get his permit as he didn't want to have to pay his share of car insurance and said he could get pretty much anywhere he wanted to go, on his bike. That was true - he rides everywhere! He got it because he now gas a girlfriend and she wanted him to get it - said she wasn't riding her bike to go on a date with him! He'll be helping me drive either to or from the Vineyard this summer - can't wait.

Self - driving car? No, I'm too big of a control freak. But a car and driver and a private plane? Bring em on!

That sounds scary, Scott/Pawprint! Is it possible someone can get a Lyft app on her phone (does she have one?) ? Then someone at the desk of her residence can help call up a ride, and someone else at the opposite one can use the app for her to get her a ride back; people are usually very happy to help cute little old ladies. :) I think their charges are pretty reasonable.

not fond of the idea of a self driven automobile at all...and no,I would never be a passenger in one

My spouse had a business trip to a major IT company a few months ago. In advance of the trip, their team was told that each would be given the use of a bike while there. When they were moving from building to building by bike, many driverless cars were also moving around on the same roads they were biking on. The driverless cars were all in development and the bikers were helping the development along....ie car avoid biker.

Coming soon to a road near you.....if municipalities will allow them.

I would love it, especially when I have to sit in traffic for hours at a time. I could read a book, sleep, play a game, watch a movie... I think, too, for places where mass transit is almost impossible to retrofit like where I live in southern California, these vehicles could be the best alternative.

Same here fun. There are so many more fun things to do than sit in traffic. Plus bumper to bumper traffic makes me a nervous wreck.

My favorite quote from the movie Cars is:

"Back then, cars came across the country a whole different way.

Well, the road didn't cut through the land like that interstate. It moved with the land, it rose, it fell, it curved. Cars didn't drive on it to make great time. They drove on it to have a great time."

What bugs me about it though is that it will be just another way to be tracked and recorded. IMO, We are already tracked way too much.

I love to drive and I am not crazy about being a passenger and no interest in a self driving car.

I plan to invest in the companies behind the driverless cars.

I used to commute 90 miles one direction to work, pay for parking then park five blocks from work and walk in. Then work a twelve hour shift. I was in NO shape to drive. For people like that....it would be great!

Also - since it's a self driving car. There would be no reason to buy it. I'm sure since they are self driving we couid just schedule it to pick us up & drop us off. I know Uber is working on self driving cars too for that same convenience.

I would love it. Once it becomes safer & more popular.

Self driving autos do hold the promise of reduced accidents. However, it is my opinion that more work needs to be done on how to handle a failure. I also believe that accidents will still abound as long as there is a mix of human and automatic drivers. Humans have the capacity to do the unexpected and sometimes emotional charged actions. Forcing an automatic car to navigate in a human environment seems tough. Humans take so many cues from their surroundings and can process changes thereof, a situation that a programmed automaton might not be able to assess. For example, what happens to a self driver during a snow-fall? Highway features and markers begin to disappear. What about a downpour when the center-line is hard to see, has a sheet of water over it, and has the same reflectivity as the rest of the road surface?

It seems to me that self driving cars will be successful only when those are the only vehicles allowed. This eliminates the human randomness and all vehicles on the road are obeying the same set of rules. This would affect road design; Features would be added that were designed to aid the automatic auto.

I would not be happy with preceding restriction. I enjoy, too much, the freedom of driving to a remote part of the country and taking in the view. or maybe, live in a remote cabin for a month or two. Its an uncertain future ahead, but self-driving vehicles will increase. I see it as a boon for the trucking industry. An automatic truck driver doesn't need sleep, food, potty stops, or gets tired. It could cover as much distance in one hop as permitted by the fuel in its tanks. It doesn't need health insurance or a contribution to its retirement fund. It has no family dependents.

Another segment is freight trains. These would be a natural for automation.

Ford is currently working on a system that doesn't need to read the lines with a camera system.

It's supposed to be able to size up the road & use the computer to know where the lines "should" be.

Does it also know where the other drivers "should" be? That would be the problem.

I like the theory but the reality seems to be a long, long way off. There've been concept cars since the beginning of cars and not all concepts went into production even though many were great ideas. Even the lawyer league isn't drooling over the idea yet so it's a long way off.