I think there is a meta learning curve to driving in brand new cities. I have learned to not try to make missed exits, not speed so that I have time to process signs, tolerate wrong turns, not make unnecessary lane changes, and generally just pay attention. It's also generally safer to drive either in the day or well lighted areas. The only near screw up was trying to pass a car and realizing the rental had no mid end torque. The car in the left lane honked at me.
Humans don't need cm-scale precise maps in cities to avoid jumping curbs and running into streetlamps. But that's still a requirement for all autonomous cars that have been demonstrated.
No, but researchers agree that self-mapping or map-unassisted autonomous cars are much further off into the future than are perfect-map cars, like the ones Google is demonstrating. And the equipment (e.g. LIDAR) on the car is super-expensive. And has lots of moving parts. And is easily foiled. Etc.
