Most people expect driverless cars to become common, and they worry about it
MOST Americans think autonomous cars will be quite common within 15 years, though 74 per cent of people say they don’t expect to have one and twothirds say they wouldn’t want to walk or ride a bicycle anywhere near one.
Confusing? That’s in part because the results come from three different recent surveys on Americans’ attitudes toward autonomous cars.
Most Americans - 70 per cent, according to the latest HNTB survey - have softened to the idea that driverless cars factor in their future, whether they plan to ride in one or not.
With several dozen companies working to develop autonomous cars or put them on the road, the vehicles’ presence is inevitable. But before the cars “become commonplace within 15 years,” as the HNTB survey says, a massive change in attitude will be necessary.
“Some of the things that popped out at me in all (three surveys) was that the majority of people are currently unwilling to ride in an automated vehicle,” said Jim Barbaresso, who leads the Intelligent Transportation Systems Practice at HNTB, an infrastructure solutions firm.
In the HNTB survey, 55 per cent of people said they wouldn’t ride in an autonomous vehicle. When AAA’s report came out, Greg Brannon, the group’s director of engineering, made what may be a key point: “Any incident involving an autonomous vehicle is likely to shake consumer trust, which is a critical component to the widespread acceptance of autonomous vehicles.”
A simple reading of recent headlines might explain.
Uber pulled its test autonomous cars from service after one of its vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, in March. A Waymo test vehicle with a human at the wheel crashed when another motorist swerved into it last month, also in Arizona. — Washington Post.