PROVIDENCE – A new report from the American Automobile Association shows most American drivers – 73 percent – say they would be too afraid to ride in a fully self-driven vehicle.
This number is up from 63 percent just late last year, AAA said, and follows a number of autonomous car incidents. In March, in Tempe, Ariz., for example, there were news reports of a pedestrian hit and killed by an autonomous vehicle operated by ride-sharing company Uber.
According to a press release on the study by AAA, 63 percent of adults report feeling less safe if sharing a road with a self-driving vehicle if they were walking or riding a bike.
“Consumers have high expectations for safety,” said Mary Maguire, AAA Northeast director of public and legislative affairs. “Our results show that any incident involving an autonomous vehicle is likely to shake consumer trust, which is a critical component to the widespread acceptance of autonomous vehicles.”
The largest jump in any generation surveyed in AAA’s study of self-driving vehicle concerns? Millennials. In 2017, 49 percent reported being afraid to ride in an autonomous vehicle, as opposed to 64 percent now.
AAA supports thorough testing of automated-vehicle technology under varying conditions and scenarios, according to the release, and a commonsense classification system.
“There are sometimes dozens of different marketing names for today’s safety systems,” said Maguire. “Learning how to operate a vehicle equipped with semi-autonomous technology is challenging enough without having to decipher the equipment list and corresponding level of autonomy.”
Susan Shalhoub is a PBN contributing writer.
