Study finds people prefer driver assist to self driving tech

GM-CruiseAV

They want to be able to choose when they drive or are driven

Awareness towards autonomous car tech is on the rise, but it seems that the more people are finding out about it, the less keen they are on it. Apparently, people want to do their own driving, but having the reassurance of advanced pieces of active safety tech.

According to a recently published study by Cox Automotive, 84 precent of those polled said they wanted to be able to drive a car themselves or have the self-driving option solely when they want it, with the other 16 percent being perfectly comfortable being driven around all the time.

The same study points out that despite the fact that awareness about self-driving tech is on the rise, acceptance for the tech is actually going down. Specifically, “self-driving vehicles are seen as less safe by consumers compared to two years ago, with most notably, the vehicle autonomy preference shifting from Level 4 to Level 2 – the level currently available in most new vehicles.”

It goes on to say “now attitudes around self-driving technology have reversed with nearly half of consumers responding they would never buy a Level 5 vehicle (49 percent, up from 30 percent in 2016). Generation Z, 12-22-year-olds, and Millennials, 23-36-year-olds, are less hesitant, with less than half of respondents saying they would never purchase a Level 5 (Generation Z at 48 percent and Millennials at 39 percent).”

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