"As traffic deaths continue to decline, nine vehicles were found
to have had
no fatalities for model years 2009 through 2012, while three
were found to have been involved in more than 100 deaths per 1 million
registered vehicles, according to a study from the Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety.
Of the nine safest models, six were SUVs -- Kia Sorento, Lexus RX 350,
Mercedes-Benz GL, Toyota Highlander and Sequoia and Volvo XC90. The
other fatality-free models over the four model years were the Audi A4
four-wheel-drive, Honda Odyssey minivan and Subaru Legacy sedan."
Study reveals 9 car models with zero traffic deaths
So you see, the Tesla is already one of the most dangerous cars on the road considering it's a luxury car. The above study was limited to cars with 100,000+ vehicle years only, so not many if any luxury limos would have made it in, but my guess is very few/zero people die in big Mercs and BMWs.
The video I posted earlier is an accident that a toddler could have avoided, yet I wouldn't let a toddler drive my cars.
As for traffic, any one who's been in a taxi will understand why the carpool idea won't work any better than the taxi/uber model does today. The cars will quickly get disgusting and beaten up especially if there's no human driver to offer supervision. Also people want to step outside and have their vehicle ready when they are, they don't want to wait and they don't want to be hurried if the car arrives early. Frankly, if the OEMs though car sharing would really take off they wouldn't be offering autonomous drivng as it would put a massive dent in their sales. The cost of a rental car has always been higher than owning, so I don't see how that will change unless you literally only drive once a week, while the cost of a taxi is so high that even sharing it four ways still matches private ownership.
As for traffic part 2, what autonomous cars bring is the ability to send a car home completely empty. Drive to work, why pay CBD parking rates if you can send the car home for the wife to use? Why combine errands when you can send your car to do them? The net result is that average vehicle occupancy will drop below 1. Can't find a parking space/ charge station? Let the car circle for hours on end.
Etc, etc.