Nobody likes it when a taxi takes longer than expected to arrive. But that is what is happening with self-driving cars. Building a vehicle that can handle a busy street, with cyclists, pedestrians, roadworks and emergency vehicles, is a tall order. In March a pedestrian was killed in Tempe, Arizona when a self-driving Uber vehicle failed to spot her as she wheeled her bicycle across an empty road at night, and the vehicle's safety driver failed to hit the brakes. There is a growing sense that the technology has, so far, overpromised and underdelivered. So a trial of self-driving vans that began in Frisco, Texas on July 30th is notable for its realistic approach to what the technology can do today.
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