Before that happens there are still plenty of issues to overcome. The autonomous vehicles that are already being tested can deal with most of the predictable stuff. Two of the biggest issues left to address are roads that can be seen such as when they are covered in snow and those that are under construction or facing other diversions. 

When +General Motors showed off its EN-V concepts at CES in 2011 http://youtu.be/WAP0Bx8m6Fw , Christopher Borroni-Bird, director of advanced technology vehicle concepts explained that fully autonomous vehicles would need to take advantage of next-generation GPS systems with sub 1-meter precision. When that sort locational precision is available, it's conceivable that vehicles could follow a road that has been mapped even if the road itself isn't visible due to the weather. 

The second major issue of dealing with road diversions due to accidents or construction could be dealt with by V2X communications. Vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure communications are already being tested in the real world including a pilot program in Ann Arbor. GM also has a potential solution that was demoed at the 2011 ITS World Congress. http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2011/Oct/1017_v2v.html

They are looking at extending the same communications system to smartphones. A pedestrian could use a phone with a transponder as a beacon to warn vehicles of their presence. The same mechanism could be used by police offers or construction crews guiding traffic to alert autonomous vehicles of the diversion. 

There are no doubt issues to address before our vehicles drive us around, but they will eventually be solved.

Reshared post from +Lauren Weinstein

From Business Insider // I have not actually experienced a G self-driving car yet (though I have seen them in Mountain View).  The issues with accident sites, hand-directed (or yelled!) police instructions, and other unusual situations, I've thought about quite a bit.  They suggest an alert driver ready to take over will be necessary for the foreseeable future (at least until there is major smart road infrastructure and integration with emergency services, and most cars, trucks, and the like are autonomous — many years, likely — but what of bicycles and motorcycles also sharing the road?  Hmm.)  Major advances in AI will impact this of course.  It does seem clear that (as the article suggests) the initial major benefits of this tech will be in driver assist and safety systems, and on specially designated roadways.  The long lonely stretches of Interstate 5 here in California between L.A. and Mountain View come immediately to mind in this latter context! – Lauren

Western governments and foundations are declining to support very common-sense improvements in farming practices like SRI because there is too much money at stake for companies like Monsanto and Dow. While genetically modified seeds pose technical problems by potentially promoting the evolution of resistant pests, there is a far more insidious issue that few talk about. 

In addition to creating seeds that resist disease and pests, these companies are also making them sterile so that farmers cannot collect seeds and plant them in subsequent years. As a result farmers that opt to use these seeds become indentured to the agri-business giants by having to buy new seeds every year. 

I sincerely hope that more farmers not only in developing nations but even here in North America adopt these practices and move away from technological "solutions."

I don't remember where I bought them, but I seem to recall paying about $70-80 for a pair of Sorel Caribous. As we approach the waning days of this winter season more than 22 years later, those same Sorels are still going strong. They're not exactly stylish, but they keep my feet warm and dry and are showing no signs of disintegrating or wearing out. Definitely the best footware investment I've ever made.

http://www.amazon.com/Sorel-Mens-Caribou-10-Boot/dp/B000BQM2RM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362262351&sr=8-1&keywords=sorel+caribou

Between 2007 and 2010 I wrote a number of stories about Miles Automotive which eventually morphed into Coda. While the company had some ambitious plans, they never had as much funding as +Tesla Motors or +Fisker Automotive and the market of plug-ins has not developed as quickly as proponents hoped. 

http://green.autoblog.com/2007/08/15/miles-automotive-trying-to-be-first-to-market-with-a-full-speed/
http://green.autoblog.com/2008/02/06/miles-xs500-will-be-a-lot-more-expensive-than-planned/
http://greenfuelsforecast.com/ArticleDetails.php?articleID=715
http://www.greenfuelsforecast.com/ArticleDetails.php?articleID=716

The site couldn't even recognize the Chrome browser properly, identifying it as the long defunct Netscape

The problem was in executing. The +Chevrolet Vega in particular had a lot of interesting details including the aluminum block engine. The GM engineers developed a block made from a high-silicon alloy. The bores were etched to expose the hard silicon giving a durable surface without the need for steel or iron sleeves. Unfortunately they used an undersized radiator that could manage the thermal loads, leading to overheating that warped the blocks.

While GM soon gave up, the same technology was eventually used by many other automakers with great success. Fortunately other innovations have worked out better in recent years.