Mistrust in Self-Driving Cars is on the Rise: AAA Study

An American Automobile Association’s (AAA) study has revealed shifting attitudes with self-driving cars.

According to the study, 73 percent of American drivers are afraid of riding in an autonomous vehicle, signaling a 10 percent jump from a January study, with two-thirds reporting feeling less safe if they were to share the road with one. Millennials surveyed posted the most significant shift, with 64 percent reporting in the negative over a late 2017 figure of 49 percent.

“Despite their potential to make our roads safer, in the long run, consumers have high expectations for safety,” said Greg Brannon, director of Automotive Engineering and Industry Relations at AAA. “Our results show that any incident involving an autonomous vehicle is likely to shake consumer trust, which is a critical component to the widespread acceptance of autonomous vehicles.”

The shifts in attitudes could be attributed to the slate of well-publicized crashes involving autonomous vehicles, including an Uber self-driving program vehicle killing an Arizona pedestrian last March, a non-fatal Tesla Model S crash in Utah, and a Model X crash in California where its Autopilot system was scrutinized.

The AAA used randomly selected 1,014 adults to complete the survey, with a 4 percent plus or minus margin of error.