For a perspective on how the automobile revolution was viewed: http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/episode-76-the-modern-...
We can hope the self-driving revolution is something of a counter-revolution, turning the auto into a better-behaved tram, allowing driving time to become free time, etc.
I have always felt this way. If everyone driving looked at the bigger picture, it would be a much more efficient and pleasant place. Road rage, traffic jams, death, all these things are mostly the result of human error and poor mental judgement.
The paper is from 2007 and podcast 2014, neither covers potential of ending individual car ownership and human drivers for getting the streets back for people - not that they should have - the history is more than enough material.
The concentrated interest of car dealers and their leverage as advertisers in newspapers is mentioned by the paper (and I think podcast) as important for driving people from the streets. How close are we to destroying local dealerships now? Why has the internet not done this yet? I've seen headlines about Tesla fighting with dealerships but haven't read. Can we end this powerful but reviled sector?