Traditional automotive manufacturers, including Audi, Ford, GM, VW, Toyota and Nissan, all expect self-driving, or autonomous, cars to be on the market between 2019 and 2021 — subject to regulatory approval.

US tech start-up nuTonomy  aims to have driverless taxis in 10 cities by 2020, and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick indicated as early as 2015 that he expects his company's fleet to be driverless by 2030. In one sense, though, the accuracy of the predictions is immaterial.

A recently filed lawsuit from Waymo, the company formed from Google's self-driving car project, against a former-employee now working for Uber indicates the seriousness with which the major players regard the prospects.

Self-driving cars are approaching round the bend at some speed and objects in the crystal ball may be closer than they appear.

The Society of Automotive Engineers, an international body representing mobility specialists, has helpfully drawn up a set of standards to provide common reference criteria in the field. According to these, level zero and one vehicles have been with us for some time. These can include cars that feature automated warnings, cruise control, assisted parking and so on. Levels two and three introduce increased automated assistance, including acceleration, braking and steering, but still cater for human intervention and decision-making.

By level four, effectively the only intervention required is to decide whether it is safe to enable the automated system. By level five you can go to sleep after setting the destination.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, for a start, there is a significant PR battle to be fought. While some of the resistant attitudes bear some examination, other concerns have considerable merit.

For all the pride taken in our driving skills – and the oft-stated reluctance to relinquishing control of our vehicles – one of the takeaways from testing conducted to date is that autonomous vehicles tend to be safer and more fuel-efficient than those with human drivers. Potential benefits include reduced collisions and a reduction in costs, both human and fiscal, as well as increased mobility for the traditionally transport-challenged, and reduced congestion.

Then again, if mismanaged, ubiquity and reduced costs could destroy the use of public transport and increase congestion. Careful planning may be required to address the risks of ever-expanding urban sprawl if road transport becomes cheaper and easier.  

There is also the transitional period, both technological and regulatory, to navigate. The law rarely keeps pace with technological change, so anticipate some hotly contested legislative battles – particularly where accidents are concerned. How they play out may be more affected by circumstances than either advocates or naysayers may wish.

Privacy and security concerns provoke more ambivalence. The tracking of individuals currently available – whether covert and clandestine, or overt and opt-in – may render any desire to keep your location to yourself futile.  

Security issues, such as hacking or terrorism, are less clear.

On one hand, more scrutiny of automated vehicle systems is likely. On the other, the possible effects of malicious or prankish hacks remain purely speculative. And, tragically, recent experience has also taught us how easy it is to weaponise a manual vehicle.

It is the negative impact on jobs that is the inarguable elephant in the room. Not for nothing is Bill Gates advocating for taxing automated systems and putting those funds into re-training the displaced. Elon Musk's campaign for a universal basic income should not be discounted.

If history is any guide, technological disruption of any kind and scale – from the printing press to radio, the industrial revolution to the internet – brings a period of chaos. New business models are attempted; some succeed, some don't. People's livelihoods are impacted, often irrecoverably. Traditional gatekeepers are forced to make way for the new.

On a whole range of levels, we are going to have to rethink some key things and quickly. The brakes may be off.

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