Most US drivers are afraid of self-driving cars

Pedestrians look toward a Waymo autonomous self-driving Jaguar taxi stopped at a red light near Venice Beach on March 14, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Beginning today, Waymo One is offering robotaxi services in a 63-square mile area of greater Los Angeles including Santa Monica, Venice and downtown with over 50,000 people on the wait list. Waymo is owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
Pedestrians look toward a Waymo autonomous self-driving Jaguar taxi stopped at a red light near Venice Beach on March 14, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Beginning today, Waymo One is offering robotaxi services in a 63-square mile area of greater Los Angeles including Santa Monica, Venice and downtown with over 50,000 people on the wait list. Waymo is owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company. Photo credit Mario Tama/Getty Images

Despite tech and automakers wanting to take a jump into the future with autonomous cars, a new survey from AAA has found that a majority of Americans are afraid of the technology.

According to the survey, which asked more than 1,200 US adults their thoughts on self-driving cars, more than 66% reported feeling some fear about them, while 25% were uncertain.

The poll highlighted that this figure remains high after spiking last year, showing that little has been done to ease the fears of Americans when it comes to autonomous vehicles.

“The fears are mostly driven by numerous well-publicized incidents where drivers lost their lives in car crashes because they were led to believe their vehicle could drive itself,” Adrienne Woodland, a spokeswoman for AAA, shared in a statement. “While there’s no vehicle on the road today that can safely drive itself, there are vehicle technologies that can improve driver safety, as long as the driver remains fully engaged while behind the wheel.”

However, Americans aren’t fully swearing off newer features and technology, as the survey highlighted that 65% would like reverse automatic emergency braking in their cars, as well as 63% want automatic emergency braking, and 62% want lane-keeping assistance.

In 2017, a PewResearch study found that only 44% of those familiar with driverless cars said they would want to ride in one, but a JD Power survey in 2023 found that only thirty-seven percent of Americans would feel confident in a self-driving vehicle.

While sentiment has worsened, the self-driving car market has continued to grow, with Next Move Strategy Consulting reporting that the global driverless vehicle market grew to 17,000 units in 2022 and is expected to hit 127,000 units by 2030.

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The AAA study was conducted from Jan. 11-16 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

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Featured Image Photo Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images