[EGreg]

I am more worried about pollution.

Hopefully the self driving cars will be re-used like driverless Uber cabs. That would reduce the unsightly clutter on so many American streets, colloquially known as "parked cars" and alleviate congestion on city streets, much of which comes from cars circling around the block "looking for a spot to park".

Sure, it would cut into the revenues of parking lots and car manufacturers. But IMHO no one has done more to pollute the environment than the latter. The number of people on the planet has increased and - even as Europe cuta down on its car population thanks to the high price of petrol - we US folk continue to purchase our gas guzzlers and have a car culture in many cities. Some like LA are perpetually covered in smog, so we can see the effects of this car culture.

Thankfully, after decades of polluting the environment for our individual joyrides, things are changing - the younger generation isn't into owning cars as much, and self drivi g cars are on the way. An unfortunate victim of this trend will be the venerable macho tradition of the man picking the lady up in his OWN shiny ride, which he drives. Now it will be about renting the car for the occasion, and both occupants can interact with each other while the car is in motion.

In short:

  Less pollution
  Less congestion
  Less wasting time looking for parking
  More equality between sexes in terms of driving
  Less unsightly clutter on streets
  Less revenues from car manufacturers from producing CARS,
  so they can focus on recurring revenues (eg renting stuff
  inside their fleet)

Hopefully this will lead to a more sustainable form of transportation.