Bizarre Notions of Self-Driving Cars
What do Americans think about the likelihood of climbing into a robot car?
With very, very, very limited exceptions, there are no self-driving vehicles rolling around the highways and byways, transporting people who are busy making more productive use of their time. (Did it ever occur to you that you rarely hear proclamations about how self-driving will lead to more leisure time, but always something about improved personal productivity?)
That said, people have opinions about these vehicles, even though they are likely to have seen one only on the evening news.
DriversEd.com, “the #1 online driving school,” has conducted a recent study on the subject and found that Americans are mixed on the subject.
For example, while 44% responded that if a self-driving Uber arrived to pick them up, they’d climb in, but 35% said no way, they’d never get in a self-driving vehicle. There isn’t a whole lot of space between those two numbers.

Aptiv is working with Lyft on offering self-driving rides in downtown Las Vegas. This is one of the still-rare public implementations of self-driving—and there is a safety driver in place.
That said, 67% of those who participated in the survey said that “one day” self-driving cars will be safer than those operated by humans. Which means that 33% don’t think that, which is fairly close to the number who won’t ride in a self-driving vehicle.
Here’s a peculiar finding: 30% believe that cruise control makes the road safer. A full 20% believes it makes driving les safe. Fifty-one percent are iffy either way.
But here’s the absolute kicker:
87% say that it is “essential” for a licensed driver to be behind the wheel of a self-driving car, ready to leap into any tricky circumstances.
Sort of defeats the whole self-driving thing, doesn’t it?
RELATED CONTENT
-
Jeeps Modified for Moab
On Easter morning in Moab, Utah, when the population of that exceedingly-hard-to-get-to town in one of the most beautiful settings on Earth has more than doubled, some people won’t be hunting for Easter eggs, but will be trying to get a good look at one of the vehicles six that Jeep has prepared for real-life, fast-feedback from the assembled at the annual Easter Jeep Safari.
-
On Automotive: An All Electric Edition
A look at electric vehicle-related developments, from new products to recycling old batteries.
-
When Automated Production Turning is the Low-Cost Option
For the right parts, or families of parts, an automated CNC turning cell is simply the least expensive way to produce high-quality parts. Here’s why.