Public not sold on fully autonomous vehicles, study finds

More than four out of five people would prefer not to ride in fully autonomous vehicles, a study published today found.Nearly half of drivers -- 46 percent -- said they would prefer to drive in a vehicle with no self-driving capabilities over one with partially self-driving or completely self-driving technology, a University of Michigan study by Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak found. About 39 percent would prefer partially self-driving cars, while 16 percent would pick a fully autonomous vehicle.Younger drivers were more likely than older drivers to say they would prefer completely self-driving vehicles, though that group still constitutes a minority of younger drivers. About 19 percent of those surveyed ages 18 to 29 said they’d prefer fully autonomous vehicles, compared with 9.6 percent of those 60 or older.Those ages 30 to 44 were most likely to say they would prefer fully self-driving vehicles (22 percent). About 43 percent in the age group said they would prefer partially self-driving cars, compared with 35 percent who said they favor vehicles with no self-driving technology.Automakers, suppliers and tech companies have been ramping up the development of fully autonomous technology, with some companies planning to put self-driving technology on the road by the end of the decade. Automakers and safety advocates say autonomous technology can greatly reduce traffic accidents, though the results of the survey indicate the companies might have more work to do pitching the benefits to a skeptical public.“Overall public opinion has been remarkably consistent over the two years that this survey has been conducted, despite the increased media coverage of self-driving vehicles,” the researchers said in their report.The survey found that just 9.7 percent of the public said they have no concerns about fully autonomous vehicles, while 37 percent said they were “very concerned,” 29 percent said they were “moderately concerned,” and 24 percent said they were “slightly concerned.”Respondents had fewer concerns about partially self-driving vehicles, with 17 percent saying they were “very concerned” about them. About 34 percent said they were “moderately concerned,” 33 percent indicated they were “slightly concerned,” and nearly 17 percent said they had no concern.The study found about 95 percent of respondents would like for a fully self-driving car to have a steering wheel and gas and brake pedals to allow the vehicle to be taken over by a driver.“One major theme we have seen across these surveys is the strong desire to retain some ability to control the self-driving vehicle -- nearly everyone still wants traditional driver controls available,” Schoettle wrote in an email. “It seems that giving up control is one of the major issues when it comes to acceptance of these vehicles.”Schoettle and Sivak surveyed 618 respondents. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

Public not sold on fully autonomous vehicles, study finds

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