I wonder how much attention this aspect of self-driving cars is receiving. We probably need some explicit protocol for (duly authorized) emergency services to assert priority in traffic. Relying on standard self-driving heuristic protocols, or anything that isn't cryptographically secure would be rife for abuse.

Interesting that you specifically mention San Francisco. SF-centric thinking on HN and in general is growing increasingly annoying, and this might be the reason your post is attracting downvotes. The world is bigger than your startup disneyland.