Picture this, the vehicle is involved in an accident, the only occupant was asleep at the time, who is to blame the occupant, the computer or Mercedes; even if you were not at fault you are negligent.

Who is to blame is besides the point. Who is pushing this technology anyway? If you want not to drive yourself use the train. This is such a waste of recourses. For what, to drive as examble one sleeping person from a to b?

get the train, aye dead on mate. Wake up and smell the coffee. With more and more vehicles on the roads, the only wake to make them operate efficiently is to remove the human control. It'll be great when we can all go out for a night without requiring a designated driver! Feel soory for the redundant taxi drivers, but I'm sure there will be other careers they can pursue!

Public acceptance of driver-less cars will be hard to achieve if century long battle to get drivers to accept automatic transmission is anything to go by. Outside of America, most of the world still prefer manual because it allows more 'control'. Sitting with my back to the direction of travel is something I personally won't ever come to terms with.

Hey MB I volunteer to test drive as a Consumer the F105 for you in So CA area for 3 years for real time data testing alone Or any other like model planned. Contact me.

Look at the crazy huge blind Spot on the front windshield pillar. Hope it don't have software issues, going down the road at 85mph ?

Mindbogglingly huge waste of R&D resources and ignorance of real world driving requirements. Imagine the mess when something like this is hit from side when the seats are swiveled, let alone the problem of safety restraints. And forget driving the thing anywhere but on the Autobahn! Daimler-Benz needs to clean house in their Imagineering department.

I want something like this except with a comfortable bed. Wake me up on long trips if you need me to pump fuel. Otherwise, wake me up at destination. Better fuel economy because computer takes care of economy driving. Safer than most human drivers. Take loooong trips without the boredom.

The best or nothing, how will it fair in a crowded urban environment with aggressive drivers not just fantasy floating along a deserted desert

You guys don't understand the problem in America. The auto companies drove out good public transportation in the 60s and 70s. As a result, we don't have a good public transportation infrastructure like the rest of the developed world, and thus, it isn't as easy as you say to "take the train." With that in mind, purpose built, and properly debugged autonomous cars WILL reduce the number of traffic fatalities because they are able to make lightening fast decisions, have greater situational awareness, and don't get drunk. Autonomous cars will also alleviate much of the traffic on highways and improve fuel efficiency by safely drafting other self-driving cars.