So how can humans do it?
If humans don't have lidar but can drive it's an existence proof of the viability of that approach.
In addition to vision, humans have proprioception and kinesthesia, hearing, inner ear receptors for balance, a sense of touch, sense of smell. We use all of these sensory inputs when we drive. And even then humans get into lots of accidents.
Lidar is superhuman vision.
Humans can't do it safely during a proper blizzard. (Toronto doesn't really get proper blizzards, though).
In addition to vision, humans have proprioception and kinesthesia, hearing, inner ear receptors for balance, a sense of touch, sense of smell. We use all of these sensory inputs when we drive. And even then humans get into lots of accidents.
Lidar is superhuman vision.