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The theory is crash prevention. The reality is we need a system- wide reset at full level 5 autonomy, but due to a number issues everywhere, it's just not fully feasible.
From the socioeconomic aspects of forcing everyone to abandon their cars and buy new ones, as well as the aspect of who really owns what-do we really need to own the vehicle anymore if it's just a pod? And if not, do we really need as many different brands of pod that currently exist?
There's also a number of legal hurdles currently dealing with "the trolley problem" of computer systems making life and death decisions.
By giving people level 2, 3, or 4 autonomy, automakers entirely sidestep all of the above problems, while also making the driver the responsible party, all while claiming 'progress' at the expense of driver engagement.
I'm not fully convinced i will see level 5 autonomy within my lifespan, simply due to the legal hurdles that are currently solved by making the driver the responsible party.
Ex: if a single 15 year old GM level 5 car has a software glitch and drives through a school, GM would be on the hook for significant damages. Multiply that risk by GM producing hundreds of thousands vehicles every year, and that is a huge liability. This is a scenario where i could more realistically see mfg's making vehicles a subscription or lease format, where vehicle ownership goes away so the mfg has better risk mitigation by only using 1-2 year old models throughout their available fleet.
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