http://www.freakonomics.com/2013/05/29/baby-you-can-program-my-car-a-new-marketplace-podcast/

I love driverless cars so much. I love them in so many ways. It's going to be a real revolution. Less drunk driving, more old people with independence, more free time, convenience, and of course, safety.

Driver error has caused the death of two people that I personally was endeared to, and I have no doubt that there are millions of people who have lost others to untimely accidents. 34,000 traffic deaths a year, just in the USA - 1,000,000 in a year worldwide. And in case you think you're a good driver, odds are you're average or less. 87% of drivers in the USA consider themselves "above average" drivers.

Most people have fears about safety. To my knowledge there has only been one driverless car crash, a nonfatal incident from the Google project that was actually caused by a human who had control on manual.

There are concerns about humans being disbarred from driving when there are safer alternatives. If this does happen - which I find incredibly unlikely - it'lll be in the distant future when our descendants are so fat, desperate, and laconic that driving will be a chore that nobody wants to return to.