Half of Americans say they wouldn’t buy a self-driving car

Self-driving cars could completely revolutionize the way we get around, but despite the potential benefits, new research has found that many Americans just aren’t willing to relinquish total control over the wheel.

Advocates for self-driving technology have highlighted how self-driving cars would cut back on emissions, make the roads safer, cut down traffic congestion, and make parking a breeze.

But the potential benefits also come with many concerns about just how safe a self-driving car is, especially after a pedestrian was killed in March of 2017 by a self-driving Uber car.

Now, a new survey has found that nearly half of Americans would never buy a self-driving car, according to the Daily Mail.

The survey was part of the Cox Automotive Evolution of Mobility Study which discovered that although awareness of self-driving technology has increased, people are still hesitant about having completely autonomous self-driving cars.

Even if self-driving cars became the new norm, the study found that 84 percent of consumers still want the option to drive themselves.

Consumer trust in self-driving cars has also decreased, as the study found that the number of people who felt self-driving cars would make driving safer dropped 18 percent in two years.

“As awareness around the development of autonomous technology increases, we’re seeing some dramatic shifts in consumer sentiment,” Karl Brauer, the executive publisher of Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book told the Daily Mail. “People now have a deeper understanding of the complexities involved when creating a self-driving car, and that has them reconsidering their comfort level when it comes to handing over control.”

Even though drivers are less and less trusting of self-driving cars, semi-autonomous safety features are becoming more and more important to future car buyers such as collision warning alerts and collision avoidance systems.

Consumers seem to require some “self-driving” features that could specifically aid the driver in dangerous situations, but still want to have most of the control while driving.

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By Kay Vandette, Earth.com Staff Writer