Driverless cars: Are the public ready for this change?

In 2020 the British government announced that driverless cars could be legal on UK roads as early as late 2021. Apple is also planning to release a driverless car in 2024 ‘with next-level battery technology’, showing that in the next 5 years or so, this space will see a large influx of companies starting to enter the market.

The question is, with self-driving technology being such a drastic change from how we operate cars today, is the public ready to trust driverless cars? Vanarama surveyed 1,000 members of the UK public to find out.

Driverless cars: Key findings

• 73% of the UK public wouldn’t feel safe in a driverless car.
• Only 13% would trust a driverless car to take their children to school unattended.
• 4 out of 5 people think they’d be able to spot a hazard better than a driverless car.
• Over half of Brits surveyed wouldn’t trust a driverless car going over 30mph.
• A third of the UK public would never trust a driverless car.
• 9 out of 10 believe that UK roads ultimately aren’t ready for driverless cars.

 70% Of Brits Wouldn’t Feel Safe In A Driverless Car

Vanarama’s survey revealed that 73% of Brits currently wouldn’t feel safe being transported by a driverless car, and 89% of motorists said the main reason for this is that they don’t believe that UK roads are ready for driverless cars.

When asking motorists if they would feel comfortable drinking alcohol before or while using a driverless car, which has been speculated about also being allowed by law, 83% said they wouldn’t feel comfortable doing this.

9 Out Of 10 People Wouldn’t Trust A Driverless Car To Take Their Children To School Alone

One of the positive aspects often talked about driverless cars is that they will enable people to save a lot of time. An example of this is the school run. If parents can send their children to school in a driverless car, that will give them more time in the morning to do household chores and get ready for work. However, nearly 9 out of 10 people told us they wouldn’t trust a driverless car to take their children to school alone.

4 Out Of 5 People Think They Would Be Able To Spot A Hazard Better Than A Driverless Car

Despite the promise of the technology within driverless cars being able to think faster than their human occupants and spot possible danger within a microsecond, motorists still aren’t sold; nearly four out of five said they think they could spot a hazard faster.

Because of this, 95% of motorists believe there should be an option for someone to take manual control of the driverless car, although 9% think that it should only be allowed in emergencies.

Over 1/2 Of Those Surveyed Wouldn’t Trust A Driverless Car Going Over 30mph

Brits revealed they wouldn’t trust their self-driving vehicle to hit speeds exceeding 30mph, with only 17% happy for their driverless car to take them on the motorway and reach speeds of up to 70mph.

1/3 Of Brits Would Never Trust A Driverless Car – Ever!

With driverless cars set to be commonplace on UK roads by 2030, we asked people how long they would have to be on roads before they would begin to trust them. Surprisingly, a third of the UK public told us that they feel they could never trust a driverless car – warning signs for the future chances of wide-scale adoption by the public.

However, 67% of motorists told us they would be prepared to trust a driverless car depending on how long they had been on the road, with the most common answer being between one to four years.

Nearly one in five people told us that they would want driverless cars to be on the roads for over a decade before they would trust that they were safe.

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