Oh, it'll happen. But I'm willing to bet snow and rain are a few years past regular fair-weather driving. I don't really see how fog, snow and rain aren't going to severely curtail the effectiveness of LIDAR.
Yep. That Fed guy was thinking about today and not tomorrow. Notice how he was writing with a pen and paper. (I hate to admit it but I am pretty terrible at that nowadays.) That is why Google is currently road testing cars without steering wheels or peddles or drivers. If these cars are relying on humans not to mess up they will not be successful or approved. And when they do figure out ice, snow, rain, etc. imagine how much easier it will be for even a native let alone a tourist from Arizona to "drive" to Whistler. Ice and snow is a real bitch. Especially at night.