Drivers Are Warming Up To Autonomous Technology But Many Are Still Scared Of It

Ford CEO Jim Hackett famously said he wouldn’t ride in an autonomous vehicle on public roads because “the trust isn’t real high” but it appears consumers are slowing warming to the technology.

According to a study by AAA, the number of people who said they were afraid to ride in a fully autonomous vehicle dropped from 78 percent to 63 percent in the past year. Male drivers and millennials were the most trusting as only half said they would be afraid to take a spin in an autonomous vehicle.

A significant number of people are still afraid of autonomous driving technology but AAA’s Greg Brannon noted “Americans are starting to feel more comfortable with the idea of self-driving vehicles” as 20 million more drivers would now trust them compared to a year ago.

While autonomous technology doesn’t get drunk or distracted like humans, only 13 percent of people surveyed said they would feel safer with autonomous vehicles on the road. Somewhat shockingly, 46 percent of people said they would actually feel less safe.

Other key takeaways from the study include the fact that women are more likely to be afraid of riding in an autonomous vehicle and would feel less safe with them driving on the road. This could represent a serious challenge to automakers as previous studies have indicated women play a major role in vehicle purchasing decisions.

Another interesting statistic is the number of people who said they want semi-autonomous technology in their next vehicle has fallen over the past year. 51 percent of people surveyed want the technology while 27 percent want nothing to do with it.

AAA speculates some of the reluctance to accept autonomous driving technology could come from the fact that 73 percent of drivers consider themselves “better-than-average drivers.” That’s certainly not the case as AAA notes more than 90 percent of crashes are the result of human error.