Just this morning I had a woman swearing at me and giving me the finger, with her two small children in the vehicle, because I abided by the 4-way stop outside an elementary school and she tried to run it.
Between the cell phone users, and the middle aged women in their SUV's that can't do a shoulder check or read a single lane sign, and the guy with the chronic one-upsman syndrome who guns it to 30 over the limit just to pass you on the highway and go slightly under the limit.
IMO only about 20% of people on the road actually follow the rules because they know they're right and help keep them and their passengers safe. Then there's probably another 60% who generally follow the rules simply because they don't want to get a ticket. The last 20% just don't give a shit, do what they want, when they want and god forbid they don't get it.
I'd also say there's an additional 10-30% who are purely seasonal drivers known the other 7-9 months as "cyclists". They only come out in the winter, and are likely responsible for as many if not more accidents than inclement weather. Living in southern ontario I actually dread the roads on that first heavy snow because, no joking around, I'm actually worried I'm going to kill someone and it won't be my fault.
I don't think driving is doing society any good except at providing a way for the stupid, and the stupidly unfortunate, ways out of the genetic pool.
Additionally I happily drive well over the speed limit when visiting Maine, 2 lane wide highway, nearly straight, 5 exits in 180 miles and nearly no traffic. A speed limit of 65mph isn't about whats actually safe, its about government bureaucracy (and income from tickets).
I don't mean to say all bikers are bad drivers, I'm just saying the correlation between the two events (the absence of cyclists from the roadways and the new presence of masses of bad drivers) is uncanny.
There's always the bad cyclists that just scare the crap out of you, like the 60-70 year old man who's wobbling about 2 feet from side to side, essentially rendering the bike lane useless. But in my experience as a driver, I've only seen a handful - and by handful I mean one or two - cyclists that actually obey the rules of the road. I see them run red lights and stop signs, I see them go on the side walk to cut past cars to make a right turn. etc
Yeah, in Calgary people lose their shit when there's a light dusting of snow... it's ridiculous.
Speaking as a person who has had several accidents with cars while biking and zero accidents while driving.
Yet somehow, we built our way to modern society from those humble beginnings.
Self-driving cars are a step backwards to a benefit we previously attained gratis from animals. For instance, in remote parts of the world where mules are still used for transportation, farmers on the mountain top load their mule with the days goods then let it navigate home (e.g. 'in take') all by itself.
Mules don't get lost, run away from danger, and feed themselves on their way to the destination. They navigate treacherous terrain and need no looking after on their way. If we had a truck with the basic intelligence of a mule, it'd be a godsend to industry.
A car with the intelligence of a palfrey---enough to not run into things, and maintain a smooth ride regardless of terrain/environment----would be an amazing luxury vehicle.
That's what makes cars an ubiquity today.
Of-course I'm getting off topic....
Think about it though---a car with the intelligence of a horse but far more tame. Beautiful product.
The transition into a world with only self-driving cars brings up the issue of pedestrians and other drivers with malicious intent. Your car is going 120km/h and someone purposefully jumps in front of the car; what does the car do? Or maybe other drivers would try to snake their way through traffic like an emergency vehicle by attacking this accident avoidance system vulnerability. Do we record all these instances on camera and report them automatically to police?
Accidents won't disappear but I do think that if a child jumps in front an autonomous car (lets say in 5-10 years) then that child has a higher chance to survive than if a human wild be driving that car.