New Delhi, March 20 -- A straw poll might show there exists a field of technology in which we Indians actually find it hard to be optimistic: self-driving vehicles. Satellite-guided traffic is a tech vision that's unlikely to survive contact with our urban streets, unless AI can evolve to outsmart, say, a 'squid' motorist (in biker parlance) and learn the art of a real-world dodge.

But optimism or any lack thereof has no bearing on the need for tech solutions to upgrade how vehicles move. For one thing, the status quo is costly. Among middle-income economies, the country's road fatality data is off the charts. Safety is an urgency. For another, making the most of foundational tech enablers is good policy. One never knows what benefits we...