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UK Motorists Are Afraid of Self-Driving Cars, Continental’s Study Reveals

As more and more automakers are focusing on their fully autonomous cars, there are some companies that are also interested in the impact that these cars will have on people and what their opinions on this are. Continental’s research revealed that, despite the benefits of driverless cars, safety, technology and trust are big worries.
Continental's Dynamic Electronic Horizon 4 photos
Photo: Continental
Continental Dynamic Electronic HorizonContinental Dynamic Electronic HorizonHistory flyer
According to the study, three in five UK drivers are worrying about the safety of self-driving cars. Also, 51 percent of them are concerned about how the technology could fail and fear that the vehicles would break down, 40 percent mistrust the concept, and a fifth are saying it scares them.

The research is part of Continental Tires’ “Vision Zero” commitment, which aims to eliminate road accidents through innovative tire technologies and automotive systems.

Apart from these concerns, the 2,000 people surveyed also expressed some advantages of fully autonomous cars and made up a top ten which looks like this: the most important advantage, in their opinion, is road safety, followed by more efficient and reduced journey times, less concentration required, reduced insurance costs, opportunity to use mobiles or laptops, eat or read in the car, increased mobility for non-drivers, and a more productive way to use their time behind the wheel.

A quarter of UK motorists believe that carmakers and technology companies will tend to over-exaggerate.

As Mark Griffiths, Safety spokesman for Continental Tires, stated, “With our award-winning summer and winter tyre range, safety is of utmost importance at Continental when it comes to any of our products or automotive technologies, and it is clear from this research that UK motorists identify with safety as a significant trust factor.” He also said that “There are very exciting times ahead with the advent of automated technology though with any advance comes concerns.

This latest report was released just before the end of CES 2016, where fully-autonomous cars have been the tip of the iceberg, although five years ago no automotive brands were present at the show.

Volvo has also recently conducted a study involving 10,000 people worldwide, where 92% of the respondents believe that the steering wheel should be present in a self-driving car so the driver is able to take control if necessary.
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