32,000 deaths a year from driving in US.
500,000 deaths a year from cancer in US.
If it was me investing, I'd put my money into solving the cancer issue. Even if you can shave 5% off that death toll, you've already done more than eradicating cars would.
The problem is driverless cars sounds like awesome fun. Solving cancer is the harder problem.
I would be interested in seeing these numbers adjusted for age. My belief is that traffic accidents tend to kill younger people while cancer tends to kill older people. If I'm right, one car crash death would likely eliminate more potential years lived than many cancer deaths.
I mean, I'm not saying your point is invalid, or that trying to extend our lives by fighting the 'old age' diseases is without value, but I do think that the number of deaths does not tell the whole story.
I think that an important difference is that we already know how to solve the car problem, in terms of technology. We can't really say the same for curing cancer.
32,000 deaths a year from driving in US. 500,000 deaths a year from cancer in US.
If it was me investing, I'd put my money into solving the cancer issue. Even if you can shave 5% off that death toll, you've already done more than eradicating cars would.
The problem is driverless cars sounds like awesome fun. Solving cancer is the harder problem.