[foobarian]

Perhaps if the tech is good enough for now, it will become somewhat widespread, and then force a de-facto redesign of the traffic "API." E.g. maybe lights will have hidden IR identification beacons intended for self driving cars. Maybe traffic police will have special manual beacons that work on those cars while directing traffic, etc.

[ndm00]

This is a great point. Additionally, in a world where there are many competitors with self-driving cars, I can't imagine roads not having and API of sorts to simplify the work cars have to do. Instead of painted line markers, why not IR beacons or something similar. Could be the same for road work signs or temporary barriers.