In the months and years leading up to the COVID 19 pandemic,
media outlets around the world projected the end of personal car
ownership and the waning days of pizza delivery drivers. In the not
so distant future, personal vehicles would be replaced by a fleet
of self-driving cars, hailed by phone or virtual assistant. The
consumer could sit in the back seat, working, sleeping, or
otherwise entertaining themselves while the car drives down the
freeway at breakneck speeds. Similarly, our goods and takeout would
maneuver the city in autonomous delivery trucks with drones
dropping of packages and dinner at our front door without a single
human interaction. That future is still possible, but the timeline
appears to continuously get longer and more uncertain as the AV
technology space faces development roadblocks and a black swan
event no one could have reasonably predicted. The COVID-19 pandemic
has not helped make the industry's futuristic ambitions any
more tangible, but
