Over 70% wouldn’t trust driverless car, claims survey
A survey of a 1000 adults by vehicle leasing company Vanarama has revealed that 73% of Brits currently wouldn’t feel safe being transported by a driverless, or autonomous, vehicle.
Nearly 9 in 10 (89%) motorists said the main reason is that they don’t believe that UK roads are ready for driverless cars yet. Roughly the same number (87%) also said they wouldn’t trust an autonomous vehicle to take their children to school alone.
Despite the promise that autonomous vehicles could think faster than their human occupants and spot possible danger within a microsecond, motorists still aren’t sold. Nearly four out of five said they think they could spot a hazard faster.
Brits also revealed they wouldn’t trust their self-driving vehicle at high speeds, with only 17% happy for an autonomous vehicle to take them on the motorway and reach speeds of up to 70mph.
Lack of trust
With driverless cars set to be commonplace on UK roads by 2030, Vanarama asked people how long they would have to be on roads for before they would begin to trust them. Surprisingly, a third of the UK public said they feel they could never trust a driverless car.
However, 67% of motorists said they would be prepared to trust a driverless car depending on how long they had been on the road, with the most common answer being between one to four years.
Nearly one in five people said they would want driverless cars to be on the roads for over a decade before they would trust that they were safe.
Because of this, 95% of motorists believe there should be an option for someone to take manual control of the driverless car, although 9% think that it should only be allowed in emergencies.
You can see the original research here: https://www.vanarama.com/car-leasing/blog/is-the-uk-ready-for-driverless-cars.html
Key Findings
- 73% of the UK public wouldn’t feel safe in a driverless car
- Only 13% would trust a driverless car to take their children to school unattended
- 4 out of 5 people think they’d be able to spot a hazard better than a driverless car
- Over half of Brits surveyed wouldn’t trust a driverless car going over 30mph
- A third of the UK public would never trust a driverless car
- 9 out of 10 believe that UK roads ultimately aren’t ready for driverless cars
