Self driving cars are often touted as the next big wave of the automotive industry. The benefits of autonomous vehicles are supposed to include reducing traffic and helping people to multitask more easily than might have been the case otherwise. In spite of the fact that this is the case, it doesn’t seem like all that many Americans are ready to trust cars that can operate themselves automatically.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that a recent poll from AAA revealed American sentiments in this regard. According to the findings of this poll, around 68% of Americans said that they were downright afraid of self driving cars. 23% said that they were not all that sure about how they truly felt about them, and just 9% said that they felt like they could trust them to help them out with their day to day transportation needs.
One thing to mention here is that the proportion of Americans who can’t seem to trust vehicles that are capable of autonomous operationality has gone up since last year. Back in 2022, 55% of Americans revealed such sentiments, and this proportion has clearly gone up by a staggering 13 percentage points within the span of a singe year.
However, some are saying that a lack of consumer trust is not a significant hurdle because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up getting overcome in a few years. Customers are often wary of new forms of tech, and companies like Tesla might have made matters worse by jumping the gun and selling self driving cars that weren’t very safe.
Self driving cars definitely have a long way to go with all things having been considered and taken into account. Obtaining consumer trust will be crucial if this industry is expected to grow. The negative shift in sentiments is a clear setback, but the huge amount of investment that is going into the creation of self driving vehicles might be able to turn it around in the long term.
Read next: Are Cheaper EV Batteries Really the Solution Carmakers Need?
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that a recent poll from AAA revealed American sentiments in this regard. According to the findings of this poll, around 68% of Americans said that they were downright afraid of self driving cars. 23% said that they were not all that sure about how they truly felt about them, and just 9% said that they felt like they could trust them to help them out with their day to day transportation needs.
One thing to mention here is that the proportion of Americans who can’t seem to trust vehicles that are capable of autonomous operationality has gone up since last year. Back in 2022, 55% of Americans revealed such sentiments, and this proportion has clearly gone up by a staggering 13 percentage points within the span of a singe year.
However, some are saying that a lack of consumer trust is not a significant hurdle because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up getting overcome in a few years. Customers are often wary of new forms of tech, and companies like Tesla might have made matters worse by jumping the gun and selling self driving cars that weren’t very safe.
Self driving cars definitely have a long way to go with all things having been considered and taken into account. Obtaining consumer trust will be crucial if this industry is expected to grow. The negative shift in sentiments is a clear setback, but the huge amount of investment that is going into the creation of self driving vehicles might be able to turn it around in the long term.
Read next: Are Cheaper EV Batteries Really the Solution Carmakers Need?
