Phil, this is an excellent post. I think that the net transportation system risk issue is more complicated than it might initially seem. If people are switching to robotaxis from safer modes, then of course, I agree that should count against robotaxis. But if robotaxis are expanding mobility--i.e.., people are taking trips that they would not otherwise take--then we would have to weigh the marginal social utility created against the marginal increase in safety risk. That's not purely a public health judgment--it's a judgment about what makes life worth living. We could reduce crashes by imposing a 40mph speed limit on interstate highways and enforcing it aggressively. But I don't think society would or should accept that tradeoff.