Poll Says Americans Aren't Ready for Self-Driving Cars
A new survey conducted by AAA recently determined that 78% of people are fearful of riding in autonomous vehicles. 54% of drivers also said they were wary of sharing the road with them, while 10% said they would actually feel safer being on the road with them.
The study seemed to contradict itself though, as it also found 59% of drivers would like to have self-driving features in their next vehicle, as adding technology to automate self-parking, emergency braking and adaptive cruise control is something the respondents were interested in.
Uber has slowly been rolling out self-driving cars in cities across the US, most recently in Tempe, Arizona. 11 states have passed some sort of legislation encouraging the testing of these new modes of transport, although certain states have stricter regulations than others. Uber had to stop its trial in San Francisco after not applying for a permit, for instance.
This year's results are relatively unchanged from those of 2016, revealing that drivers are still hesitant to fully embrace the new autonomous vehicles. AAA believes that as time goes on, the public will become more receptive to self-driving cars and the new technology would help put an end to the 35,000 deaths caused annually by (regular) car accidents. Google's subsidiary, Waymo, can be seen testing cars around Silicon Valley. Apple also revealed in December that it's working on its own self-driving technology.
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