If you've got a camera facing backwards looking for cars in the other lane than evading into that lane might be safer in many cases where you can't count on the car behind you stopping in time. That's only a good plan for computers with sensors looking in every direction at once, nothing you or I should ever try when we're driving on the highway.
And yes, the car was too close. But the automatic systems don't kick in until they're necessary to avoid an imminent collision. Hopefully autonomous cars won't make that mistake.
> nothing you or I should ever try when we're driving on the highway.
I've done exactly that on highways and on non-controlled-access roads. It's not hard to keep a mental model of nearby vehicles (look at mirrors, if you see a car disappear from them but not go in front of you they're in some blind spot. When I know I've been tip-top at keeping watch like that, I've done evasive manoeuvres into other lanes just based on that. If I've been shoddy with my situational awareness, I do a quick head turn while doing the swerving and am ready to bring myself back into my lane should there be a vehicle in the spot I want to occupy.
Part of defensive driving is being proficient at swerving; as sharp decisive steering input can get you out of collisions that would be unavoidable via braking. Being able to swerve as fast as possible without losing control, on an open-loop basis (without needing feedback by looking at the road) and recovering is a useful skill to be confident in. I've practised swerving and thus can controllably and swiftly shift my car sideways and realign with my previous direction of travel -- it's not something I need to think about, it's as ingrained in my muscle memory as operating the pedals or the gearbox!
A few weeks ago, I used that skill to avoid hitting a pedestrian who had ran onto the road (without warning) from behind a parked car on a rainy night when I was driving at 35mph. Given my reaction time and the time needed to take the foot off the throttle pedal and onto the brake, I'd still have hit them at ~25mph even with maximum braking effort -- there wasn't enough distance. Indeed, braking would have given them more time to get in front of me, as they didn't seem to be slowing down / stopping. "Possible hit at 35mph" vs "more probable hit at 25 mph" is one horrid dilemma!
Given my (legal, albeit not so prudent) speed and how little warning I had (it was night and my driver's side window was covered in rain), when I first saw the pedestrian (through my windshield!), my immediate reaction was to swerve and not to brake. My steering input added a meter or so of space between my vehicle and that pedestrian. I did not hit anyone that night.
Self-driving vehicles should be capable of that sort of performance as well! Braking is not always the best option.
And yes, the car was too close. But the automatic systems don't kick in until they're necessary to avoid an imminent collision. Hopefully autonomous cars won't make that mistake.