Women Not Sold On Safety of Self-Driving Cars
There are still some hurdles to clear before self-driving cars become accepted on our roads according to a survey.
According to financial advice site NerdWallet 49 percent of those surveyed aren’t interested in self-driving vehicles. Even more interesting is how the data is split up between genders and age groups.
The survey, which involved 1,000 Americans across the country, found that only 37 percent of women found the innovation interesting, while a whopping 55 percent are worried about the safety of these autonomous automobiles.
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On the other hand, 44 percent of men were concerned that driverless cars will take the fun out of driving. The interest levels also vary widely by age group. Of those surveyed who were aged between 18 to 29 only 26 percent said they had no appeal in these self-driving cars of the future, but that level spiked to 44 percent when asked to folks aged 60 and older.
Additionally, the while the survey found safety of these cars to be a concern, the biggest worry was with how much an autonomous car would cost. Sixty-four percent of those surveyed expressed a fear that the cars would be too expensive.
A few respondents shared their thoughts on what they would like about a self-driving car. Twenty-eight percent agreed that they would be more productive during their commute if their car drove itself, while 35 percent believed that self-driving cars would help lower insurance costs.
Interestingly enough, the survey found that Americans were pretty accepting of the new safety features in modern cars, like blind-spot warning and front-collision avoidance systems. Only nine percent of the survey said they don’t have any interest in these features.
The survey helps point out that there are still some hesitations and confusion about whether autonomous cars will enrich our lives or help us be safer on the roads, but that there’s still some interest in them by the general public.
[Source: NerdWallet]
Sami has an unquenchable thirst for car knowledge and has been at AutoGuide for the past six years. He has a degree in journalism and media studies from the University of Guelph-Humber in Toronto and has won multiple journalism awards from the Automotive Journalist Association of Canada. Sami is also on the jury for the World Car Awards.
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They say that the Google Car will be better in some ways, and I think they may well be right. Humans lack the ability to concentrate for any real length of time, and repetitive tasks ease us into mindlessness. Computers can hold speed and distance with far more accuracy than a human, never gets bored or angry or drunk and can recognize patterns. The patterns are actually there in the highway code. My one question is this Would the passengers be liable for any accidents? Would Google be liable? It seems like a mess. I have a good driving record and enjoy pretty cheap insurance rates ($25/month from Insurance Panda.. woohoo!). I also enjoy taking my car out for a spin and enjoying the freedom of being able to drive anywhere. Will the driverless car allow all this? If not, Ill have to pass. Who knows? Maybe insurance as we know it will go away, replaced by any number of models that would more accurately represent the new risk distribution.
this is basically sounding the death knell on self-driving cars. If women don't want it, it's toast