Why we are too scared to adopt driverless cars

We keep hearing about driverless cars and Erica
Herrero-Martinez from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers sent me this information
about a new survey.
UK Government and companies such as Google, Ford
and Uber are all championing driverless car technology, but according to this
latest public survey much more work is needed to convince the public of the
benefits of driverless vehicles.
According to the survey, carried out on behalf of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 55% of the 2002
people surveyed said they were unlikely to want to be a passenger of a driverless
car, with 40% said they were very unlikely to want to be a passenger. Just 21%
of the people surveyed said they would be happy to ride in a driverless
vehicle.
Philippa Oldham, Head of Transport and
Manufacturing at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said:
  • “The benefits of driverless vehicle technology are
    huge, with estimates that it could be worth as much as £51 billion a year to
    the UK due to fewer accidents, improved productivity and increased trade.
    Furthermore with 95% of all vehicle accidents being the result of human error,
    it makes sense to look at how we can use this new technology to help save
    lives.
  • “UK Government and industry is increasingly aware
    of these benefits of driverless technologies, and Government’s pledge in the
    Queen’s speech to ensure insurance is available to users of driverless cars is
    encouraging. But clearly there is still a long way to go to increase public
    confidence in the effectiveness and safety benefits of driverless technology.
  • “Many vehicles already feature driverless
    technology, such as a self-parking functionality and automatic braking, so
    public perceptions are likely to change over time. But if we truly want the UK
    to become a world leader of driverless vehicle technology we need to get the
    public on-side and championing the projects like Greenwich’s GATEway Project
    and the Lutz Pathfinder in Milton Keynes.
  • “Government and industry must work together not
    only to better educate and inform the public about driverless car technology
    but to make sure that they are developing the products that the end users
    want.”

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