snowy mountain pass maybe not but your average traffic in the world is closer to the cities of India, China, Indonesia or Brazil than a grid system in the suburbs of Phoenix Arizona.
Keep in mind the US and Europe account for 10% of the world's population, and I wouldn't even have a lot of confidence in self-driving in your average traffic situation in Rome
Tbh I'm not even sure if self-driving as it is covers 65% of the American population. Has anyone ever tried to use a self-driving car on a rural American road?
The counterpoint is that places and culture can change. I’m sure there was a huge kerfuffle when cars started sharing roads with horse-drawn carriages in London, and I’m sure some people thought cars would never have a place, but here we are. If self-driving cars hit the mainstream in North America and Europe, I guarantee seemingly unfit cities will adjust because truly autonomous vehicles have sooooo many benefits.
yes, people ride teslas in some sort of automated mode on rural roads.
I see your point about the larger driving population, but self driving will roll out in wealthy countries with new car models first, and I think solving the problem there will predate a large solution, for many different reasons.
All my comments about self driving are basically limited to urban and semi-urban wealthy countries since those are the groups subsidizing the research now.
Tbh I'm not even sure if self-driving as it is covers 65% of the American population. Has anyone ever tried to use a self-driving car on a rural American road?