At least in the UK, one of the most prolific serial rapists was a licensed taxi driver (not even an Uber driver (who get a lot of stick about not being as safe as "real" taxis) - but a licensed and supposedly-vetted London black taxi driver). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Worboys
Totally illogical supposition. I'll bet a lot more taxi drivers have rescued people in trouble than assaulted them, a young female relative of mine was rescued by a passing taxi driver from a dicey situation outside Sheperds Bush tube station.
The chances of thugs standing in front of future driverless vehicles like highway robbers to stop them is very high, especially if the predators can see their prey has something of value to them
Perhaps people would "love" that but I have a feeling that the continued retreat from all forms of socialization due to technology is not a good thing by and large for society. I would guess that most people who think they desire this wouldn't even think they desire it in terms of safety but instead in terms of avoiding distraction or awkwardness.
Technology lets me socialize an order of magnitude more than I'd otherwise. We as a species have never been more connected. If it also gives me respite from having to engage with someone I'd rather not in a car, all the better.
Honestly, we could all use a bit more of a break from each other, in my opinion.
Point well taken, I meant physical / proximal socialization. I would contend that most forms of socialization over the internet are lower quality than a candid conversation with a stranger in a car ride.
They will love it until they are leaving from the bar and the last bar attendee left them a big wet bile-smelling present all over the seat. At least when this sort of thing happens on a bus there are other seats you could use.
And who knows how long that will take? In some places it takes long enough just to request a single uber trip much less two in a row. Imagine how livid you'd get when a half hour after you first intended to leave the bar, the second self driving car arrives, and it to is soiled.
'Your ride request has been refused due to your social credit score, spare the air day and your recent equity transgressions. Here is a 5% off coupon for sensible walking shoes'.
It's not the robot that might take offense, it's the folks in the panopticon and their databases.
The scenario you described already happens in San Francisco and the Bay Area on a regular basis to regular human drivers. There are plenty of videos of peoples' back window being smashed while they're sitting in traffic and their expensive goods are taken. The solution to this is not having human drivers, it's cracking down on property crime and treating it as equally as important to violent crime.
Exactly, I'm in the bay area also. Not hard to see next generation highway robbers standing in the path of self driving vehicles, which will stop to avoid hurting the 'pedestrians' in the road
How is the taxi driver's identity also not verified? Are you assuming there could be a random person who isn't employed by a taxi company masquerading as a valid cab? Since you would need a genuine looking physical cab to pull this one off, that seems a lot less realistic than simply pulling up to a bar in any car, telling a drunk girl you are her uber, and driving off before she thinks to check the picture on the app, which is something that does actually happen.
So I guess safety is a major plus based on that.