Consumers shopping for new vehicles today frequently see models that include features designed to assist drivers and even automatically take some actions. Automatic braking, for example, aims to prevent collisions by allowing the car to stop itself upon detecting a potential impact.
These features highlight the reality that fully autonomous vehicles continue to develop and may soon appear on roads throughout the country. Research studies show, however, that consumers may not really want this to happen just yet.
Lack of education may contribute to low trust
A report by The Verge indicates that many industry experts feel American consumers lack sufficient knowledge about how self-driving vehicles work. This lack of knowledge may well contribute to a lack of trust in the technology and the vehicles. As such, many may push for greater education at a broad level to increase adoption and trust.
Consumer readiness for self-driving cars remains low
In the first quarter of 2020, a coalition group called Partners for Automated Vehicle Education conducted a study to learn about American consumers’ readiness for autonomous vehicles. When asked if they believed these cars may be ready for regular use on American roads, nearly three out of four indicated they did not believe that was so.
The same study found the majority of people believed any benefits of autonomous vehicles were not as great as the risks or disadvantages of them.
The World Economic Forum reported on the results of a poll by Reuters/Ipsos that found two out of three people unwilling to consider buying a self-driving vehicle. At least half felt autonomous vehicles posed more dangers than vehicles driven by humans.
