Most British motorists still hold some animosity towards the onset of autonomous cars and want to maintain control of the vehicle.
In a survey conducted by IAM RoadSmart, 65 percent said that a human should always be in charge of the vehicle and 34 percent believe autonomous cars are a bad idea.
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Interestingly, 55 percent said that autonomous cars will not be the norm on UK roads in the next few years, despite overwhelming support for autonomous functionality in cars by most major manufacturers.
“Technological advances that make driving and riding safer for all road users have to be embraced wholeheartedly — but British motorists and our members do want the right to drive,” said IAM RoadSmart CEO Sarah Sillars to The Express. “Intelligent cars will deliver a step change in road safety by targeting the human errors we make from time-to-time. We believe a well-trained driver and an ever-vigilant car is a win-win scenario for the future.”
British drivers aren’t the only ones
It appears motorists still have a fear of a computer-controlled car, meaning manufacturers and tech companies designing programs for self-driving need to be vocal on the security and safety benefits. Consulting firm McKinsey & Company suggests the adoption of self-driving could reduce accidents by 90 percent.
When that stat was brought up in the survey, the majority of respondents said they want to “wait and see” rather than restrict human control of vehicles. 15 percent disagreed with the proposition of removing human control entirely after reading the stat — 38 percent also said that they would not use an autonomous car.
Automated systems that stop tailgating were heavily favored by respondents, showing that British motorists do want limited automation of cars to increase safety on the road.
Autonomous cars are still an unknown to millions of drivers that question the effectiveness of a computer system on the road. In the next few years, as we start to see automatic parking and lane switching features added into cars, we might start to see a change in perception towards autonomous.
