How do Americans feel about autonomous driving?

We surveyed 1,034 individuals across a wide variety of age groups, genders, income levels, and geographic regions to find out what they know about autonomous vehicles and how they feel about the idea of driverless cars on the road.

Self-driving cars have long been a concept for sci-fi books and movies, but over the last couple of years advancements in technology have brought the concept of autonomous vehicles on our roadways closer to reality. Uber has been test driving vehicles - with a highly publicized deadly accident in March - and California has already approved testing for fully driverless cars as well. Ford recently announced testing for their autonomous vehicles, with a target date of 2021 for a fully autonomous fleet to hit the roadways.

By all indications, the emergence of self-driving vehicles is upon us, with innovation pushed from Silicon Valley giants and auto industry elites. But as the technology comes closer to reality, today it is important to know what consumers think about all of this. Is this something they want, or are ready for?

It was surprising to discover the apparent lack of understanding for the majority of the population as to what an autonomous vehicle even is. Considering the amount of attention from the media over the last year, we expected greater awareness from the general public.

What Do You Know About Autonomous Driving

One of the strongest patterns to emerge is the seeming reluctance of drivers to surrender their “right” or “privilege” to drive.

Proponents of autonomous driving have made much of the claim that safety will be greatly improved, with significant reductions in accidents, injuries, and fatalities once all road vehicles are autonomous. The survey respondents have not necessarily embraced that vision. In fact, despite more than half of respondents saying they believe autonomous vehicles will greatly reduce but not eliminate collisions and injuries, nearly the same number said they would feel unsafe to some degree in an autonomous vehicle.

No matter their feelings about safety, most respondents would want government involvement.

Government Regulating Of Autonomous Vehicles

Regarding predictions about future implementation, the survey audience was taking a longer-term view than some pundits who see this technology as “around the corner”.

When Will Most Vehicles Would Be Autonomous

The final question concerned this technology’s impact on employment.

Summary

There are vastly different expectations among those who work with vehicle autonomy, compared to people for whom this topic is just another story in a world with a rapidly spinning 24/7 news cycle.

While we have observed some “pulling back” in recent months among futurists who have been predicting that autonomous cars are “around the corner”, many Americans who are not reading every story as it hits have much lower, or longer-term, expectations. They are certainly not going out of their way to stay abreast of any news about it.

No matter how quickly this technology may be arriving, most people are not ready for it, and may not even want it. It appears to us that proponents of autonomous vehicles may be underestimating the overwhelming impact this will have on people’s lives. In spite of early adapters who welcome paradigm shifts, the survey shows that many people are more comfortable with the status-quo. In our prediction, it may take one or even two generations before a skeptical public gets onboard with driverless cars.