And while that’s a sad prospect for some die-hard drivers, it’s actually most likely going to be a necessity if self-driving cars are to become truly popular and widespread. The problem is that no matter how smart a car is, it can still do little to account for irresponsible human drivers.
And with that in mind, removing the aspect of human error from the equation might be the best way to go, even if it would mean taking away people’s ability to drive in urban environments. It’s going to be a complicated situation on multiple fronts, as there will be legal aspects to the whole thing that have to be handled as well.
Some experts have already been discussing the implications of self-driving cars for auto insurance, and are predicting a scenario where those who wish to retain their manual driving licenses have to pay significantly higher insurance premiums. Hopefully, there will be some middle ground that ends up working out for everyone in the end, but there is still a lot of time to figure that out.