Britons say no to self-driving cars
A survey has revealed that 70% of Britons don’t want to see self-driving cars on UK roads, with just 5% saying yes to the new technology.
ACCORDING TO a survey by UK-based insurance broker, Adrian Flux around 70% of Britons don’t want to see self-driving cars on UK roads. A further 24% said they were still undecided while five per-cent said they would embrace self-driving cars.
“Despite the clear implications for road safety, 70.3% of 1784 customers surveyed by Flux, which specialises in providing cover for modified and unusual vehicles, gave a red light to giving control of their driving to a computer,” Flux said in a statement.
Of the 70%, more than 45% of respondents didn’t like the idea of not being in control, while nearly 36% said they simply enjoy driving too much to hand over the reins. Nearly five per cent worry about the implications of hacking, 4.4% fear they will be too expensive, and 2.9% don’t believe they will ever catch on.
Gerry Bucke, general manager at Flux, said the survey showed that the biggest obstacle to the uptake of driverless cars is people’s love of driving, fear of the unknown and reluctance to give yet more of their lives over to computers.
“There appears little doubt that driverless cars will become a reality in one form or another, but motorists are clearly struggling with the idea of giving up the freedom of the open road and simple pleasure of driving great cars,” he added.
“Many people have a real passion for cars and driving, and if vehicles are all essentially the same, moving around the country at fixed speeds with no input from the driver, one of life’s pleasures will be taken away.
“The biggest stumbling block to this new technology, however good it may be, could well be that people simply don’t want it.”
So, what do you say, yes or no to self-driving cars?