I for one, welcome our autonomous overlords... (Score 1)

What "freedom" would we _really_ be giving up, anyways?

  It's a false freedom. It's much more a conditional contract.
By 1:) acquiring a drivers license, and 2:) manually piloting a vehicle on public roadways, you effectively enter into an agreement to adhere to an ever-increasing list of laws, lest they catch you and impose taxation and additional restrictions upon you.

Inevitably(?), we are prone to distraction, fatigue, and either bad luck - or bad decisions - that result in accidents and injury. --Rarely ever "our fault", of course - just look to the proliferation of the insurance industry and the perpetual influx of claims . The statistics speak volumes. Statistically, we suck at it.

With the 'safety first' attitude firmly entrenched and only growing stronger, effectively leading to more and more restrictive laws, what game are we playing here, really? Let's look at the modern experience of driving for the vast majority. Stay in the lines, keep the speedo needle on the line - no more, no less. And whatever you do, don't touch your phone - you just can't be trusted to do two things at once. Media will sell you the image of a fast car on an open road - but that's a rapidly vanishing illusion. Enticing areas of roadway are often patrolled from the sky for such antics. You can buy the dream, but don't you dare live it!

So really, we need to look at what we're really 'giving up' by handing control over to autonomous vehicles, vs what we'll be gaining.
I'm sure when the first 'horseless carriages' showed up, a lot of people didn't trust that idea either. But within two or three generations, riding a horse was relegated to little more than an antiquated hobby. Once the technology develops sufficiently, demonstrating safe and reliable transportation in a much more consistent & efficient manner, the appeal will grow. When cities begin to allow 'autonomous only' lanes - and it zips past standstill traffic at much greater speeds, who among us would rather sit in bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic, vs pursuing other interests?

And consider this -- if cities were dominated by autonomous vehicles, perhaps all the traffic cops would actually have to chase down 'real crime'!