But something that I would like to know is what happens when it fails? Or at least, seems to have failed?
At the moment, if I buy a car and the brakes fail and I crash into someone/something then it's likely there was a defect and the manufacturer was at fault. That seems reasonable when you're making a 2 ton machine capable of hitting over 100 mph, there should be a shit load of safety measures in place.
However, it seems that self-driving software is in its infancy and I've lost faith in tech companies to release a product when it's complete and ready, instead releasing it sooner with a bunch of bugs for the users to test. In addition, if my brakes fail, a sound mechanic would be able to verify that was the case and I'd be off the hook: you would be able to examine the faulty part.
If my self-driving thingy failed on one of these level-3 roads, and I crashed into a bunch of nuns crossing the road would I be on the hook for it? How would I be able to prove in court that it failed and wasn't a result of me being a muppet. Coz you can bet I won't be able to examine the source code after the accident, unlike being able to see the faulty brakes in the earlier example.