An informative and valid post, Brydo. I agree that we will see aut0-driving cars. Hopefully it will not happen until after I cease to use the roads. I’m sure designers will do everything to make the systems foolproof. Problem is, fools can be so damn clever! The scale, variety and frequency of bad, unpredictable and dangerous driving is just so huge. Lots of work needed.
You ask:
are we so far away from autonomous cars?
As examples, you cite: Auto head lights; Auto windscreen wipers; Lane assist; Adaptive cruise control and Automatic braking.
The lights and wipers I have to constantly override/turn off because they get it wrong. Turning off the last three is the first thing I do when entering the car. They use the same or similar sensors (which I do keep clean) as lights and wipers. So they are going to get it wrong but not in my vehicle. Still more work needed!