This might make it worth it to get a car again

The NY Times reports that cars will be driving themselves here soon, and I love their take on why this is achievable:

But cars, unlike humans, will keep getting smarter. They will learn from their mistakes. They will not get distracted by cellphone calls. They will not drive drunk. Smart cars will never be infallible, but they don’t have to be. They just have to be better than the drivers who now cause more than 90 percent of traffic accidents and kill a million of their fellow humans per year.

Sure that makes sense, but is it practical for the control-seeking people who inhabit the United States? I have to think that it is actually the only logical way of thinking about it - especially if you give people a choice. People still feel in control when they make a choice, even if that choice is to give up control. It's all about being the master of your own destiny for us.

Can you imagine how much more pleasant a city like DC would be if the traffic didn't prevent you from getting anywhere in the time that you planned for it? Now we just have to automate parking, and the city might be car-friendly again. I guess that will call for even more fuel-efficient (electric, perhaps?) vehicles if the robotic age isn't to make the air pollution even worse...