[abalone]

That service is available. You've exactly described Uber.

Driverless cars would be (further) disruptive but only if driverless cars are actually possible. That is mostly a tech press peak hype cycle fantasy right now. Even Google made a public statement throwing cold water on that, saying it could take 30 years.

Meanwhile the disruption we could actually face is with 10X improvements in safety and comfort via semi-autonomous driver assistance features. A car that mostly takes care of itself, but still requires a human pilot that remains engaged, aware and alert, particularly in situations that are more dicey. You know, like how airplane autopilot works.

[greedo]

Careful, your karma might not take the hit from the autonomous driving crowds at HN. I keep looking at the state of the art systems for autonomous vehicles, and shake my head. I don't expect to see them in use in the US in any serious numbers before I die. The obstacles are just too complex/difficult. We always denigrate people's intelligence, but the human mind is pretty incredible at processing things spatially, even when distracted in a minivan hurtling down an Interstate.