But self-driving cars have been praised by members of both parties, who see the technology as a way to spur job creation while preventing many of the roughly 40,000 motor vehicle deaths that occur on American roads each year. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 94 percent of traffic deaths involve human error, including distracted driving and driving while intoxicated.
Human errors of another fashion exist, in other words. As I keep saying I don't think "eek they're unsafe!" is the issue. If they work they'll be safe enough, it's almost tautological. But I don't buy the claims that they'll eradicate accidents, and certainly not until the entire fleet is swapped out, which won't happen because they won't work. Even if the cars themselves don't hit anything, they can contribute to chaos around them.