The real backlash will
occur when an autonomous car kills a pedestrian or another driver and the wealthy owner of the autonomous car walks away without a scratch.
Even in that situation I would think that in the current climate the circumstance of the accident would also be taken into account by the public / the press. I.e. did it occur in a situation where a human driver might also have been unable to avoid it.
It would take a shift in perception, perhaps caused by mass layoffs resulting from the widespread adoption of self-driving trucks, before people would be disposed to hold self-driving cars to a higher standard than human drivers in order to feel safe. But it is not clear if such a shift in perception will occur. People still love Uber, even though the taxi drivers are upset.
I think that as things stand, most people would be OK with self-driving cars if they were convinced that AI drivers are at least as good as human drivers at avoiding accidents (wherever and whenever AI drivers are allowed to drive).
It would take a shift in perception, perhaps caused by mass layoffs resulting from the widespread adoption of self-driving trucks, before people would be disposed to hold self-driving cars to a higher standard than human drivers in order to feel safe. But it is not clear if such a shift in perception will occur. People still love Uber, even though the taxi drivers are upset.
I think that as things stand, most people would be OK with self-driving cars if they were convinced that AI drivers are at least as good as human drivers at avoiding accidents (wherever and whenever AI drivers are allowed to drive).