Why We Find Self-Driving Cars So Scary

Take note, Elon Musk: Even if autonomous cars are safer overall, the public will accept the new technology only when it fails in predictable and reasonable ways

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently took the press to task, decrying the “holier-than-thou hypocrisy of big media companies who lay claim to the truth, but publish only enough to sugarcoat the lie.” That, he said, is “why the public no longer respects them.”

Mr. Musk’s frustration is fueled in part by widespread media attention to accidents involving...