Am I to understand then that we, the developed world if you will, have decided to

[Just Trent]

just plough ahead with driverless cars and allow them to course around at speed controlled by nothing more than software written by an old junkie like me?

I mean that car, being monitored by some kind of trailer dwelling burger fiend, was going at a fair old lick! I thought these cars were to be benign little electric jobbies that would pootle around city centres at no more than about 15mph.

Indeed. They appear to have just strapped a few electronic sensors to a great big SUV, and let it loose. Not exactly Knight Rider imo.