The roundabout is a good example of where it would be pretty easy to design a safe approach for self-driving cars (do not go until the roundabout is clear), but in a heavy traffic area, would result in the self-driving car just sitting... and sitting... and sitting... waiting for the roundabout to clear.
A self-driving car that takes forever to get anywhere could easily fail in the marketplace, even if it is clearly safer statistically.
The thing about very safe driving strategies is that humans can already choose them at any time, without buying anything. I, too, can sit and wait for a roundabout to fully clear before going.
The fact is that a lot of people do a sort of risk-cost-benefit analysis in addition to safety analysis when driving. I'm not sure a car optimized heavily for safety, at the cost of efficiency of travel, will meet expectations.
A self-driving car that takes forever to get anywhere could easily fail in the marketplace, even if it is clearly safer statistically.
The thing about very safe driving strategies is that humans can already choose them at any time, without buying anything. I, too, can sit and wait for a roundabout to fully clear before going.
The fact is that a lot of people do a sort of risk-cost-benefit analysis in addition to safety analysis when driving. I'm not sure a car optimized heavily for safety, at the cost of efficiency of travel, will meet expectations.