We’ve been told self-driving cars might be commercialized on a wide scale by 2025 or 2030. Only in Japan, they are saying 1-5 years. How many years behind is the U.S. typically? Well, if we take the example of high speed rail, Japan started operation in 1964, and projections are that the U.S. will have it…never.

In all seriousness though, this is different. U.S. politicians representing rural areas have power out of proportion to the populations they represent, and because high speed rail can never efficiently serve those sparsely populated rural areas, it is politically nearly impossible. But we have designed our entire country around cars. U.S. politics also support big business – including auto, tech, and insurance companies – and opposes public transportation, all for weird incomprehensible ideological reasons. So the self-driving cars will come.