Absolutely. The moment we develop an autopilot that is safer than average human drivers by a statistically significant margin, it should be mandatory in all cars. I am hopeful that we will see this during our lifetimes.

The introduction of such systems (probably expensive at first) would also be a great opportunity to switch from car ownership to widespread car rental (ala zipcar).

The technology might get there soon but not the legal framework. I can't even imagine the legal implication of cars on autopilot killing pedestrians and drivers.

That is also probably one of the reasons we don't have flying cars yet.

Sure, but that's not the same thing as saying they will be proven statistically safer, which will be the bar you have to pass before you can mandate them for everyone. I figure that's another few years off. But I agree that it won't be long now.