The data appears to be somewhat mixed. We are also though, comparing apples and oranges, to some extent. There's a very small number of self driving cars on the road, while there are hundreds of millions of conventional vehicles. There does seem to be a much higher accident rate than with conventional vehicles, but given the respective numbers, human error, etc. the overall data would seem to remain somewhat inconclusive.
Of course this technology will need to be tweaked, fiddled around with, for years to come. There will, I suspect, be issues with it in the decades to come. However, of the number of accidents these cars have gotten into none have (yet) resulted in fatalities. The conclusion of your second link...
"The bottom line: Even though self-driving vehicles were not at fault in any crashes they were involved in and that injuries have of lower severity than for conventional cars, it appears they are getting in more accidents given their numbers."
Anyhow, I continue to find this new technology amazing and extremely fascinating. Given how many people drive under conditions of anger, stress, intoxication - and so on and so forth... with further development and improvement I believe that these autonomous vehicles will prove to be not only safer for us all, but will likely result in fewer road fatalities, greater overall peace of mind for the average vehicle owner, more leisure time - and so much more. There are many applications to which this technology can be put.
Yes, it has problems, but the technology is really very exciting. I would love to get in one of these vehicles and experience it for myself.
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