According to AAA’s annual automated vehicle survey, 71 percent of Americans fearful of self-driving vehicles following a year of high-profile automated vehicle incidents, increasing those concerned from 63 percent of respondents last year.
The recent AAA report suggests that an essential piece of making Americans feel more comfortable with self-driving vehicles is bridging the gap between perceptions of automated vehicle technology and how the vehicles actually work.
AAA director of Automotive Engineering and Industry Relations Greg Bannon, transparency will be key going forward.
“Despite fears still running high, AAA’s study also shows that Americans are willing to take baby steps toward incorporating this type of technology into their lives,” Brannon said. “Hands-on exposure in more controlled, low-risk environments coupled with stronger education will play a key role in easing fears about self-driving cars.”
Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) already deployed today are doing their part to ease tensions. AAA showed that regular interactions with such technology — designated lane assistance, automatic emergency braking, etc. — makes users more likely to trust similar features. Around 68 percent of respondents said they were more likely to trust than those who have no interaction with such technology.
Additionally, while the average American driver seems to distrust full vehicular autonomy, they are not against the self-driving phenomenon in bits and pieces. Everyone has their limits, certainly, but a little more than half of people are comfortable with low-speed, short-distance forms (shuttles, for example) and 44 percent accept the technology in food or package delivery services.
This has not changed that fact that more than half of Americans — 55 percent — believe that most cars will be able to drive themselves by 2029.