Additionally, many big rig accidents could not be avoided even with perfect driving - they are caused by things like weather, other drivers doing stupid things, sudden stops in traffic, etc. AI does not really improve your stopping distance in a big rig.
0. https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/large...
But you're only paying them for the time they're driving - so this is actually incredibly efficient.
If AI trucks are the norm, and all that slack is eliminated for efficiency sake because the "AI truck can always get here in 13 hours, no stopping", then that increased efficiency only raises the urgency that it arrives on time, thereby eliminating the time savings on delivery.
It doesn't improve the braking distance, but it should be able to improve the stopping distance if it can react faster.
AI doesn't need to improve your stopping distance, just your propensity to follow by more than your stopping distance. Even simple adaptive cruise control can do that.
Do you write AI software for self driving vehicles?
Now, that is entirely anecdotal, and I have no idea how common such things are, but these type of things would at least be avoided by self driving.