The only difference here is that a mere 500 ms flash elicites a response, where a human wouldn't notice. on balance, a 500 ms response time does seem like a feature more than a bug compared to a human.
Are self-driving computers superior to humans and make less mistakes, or is it OK for a computer to be tricked by something some humans would also not detect?
Btw. I think I can tell if there is a real stop-sign or something on a billboard after some 'huh'-moment and without slamming on the brakes. And humans still go circles around AI regarding plausibility-checking very out-of-the-ordinary events.
Self-driving cars aren't superior.
There is 1 death in 100 million miles driven on roads; self-driving cars are currently operating around 1 death per million.
Personally, I do not expect self-driving cars this century to get anywhere near human safety levels (assuming cities/etc. remain as-is).
and
https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/5/17/18564501/self-driving-c...
I haven't read it all -- my numbers come from another paper, I can't recall. But it's talking in the right ballparks.