Survey: 49% of British adults would refuse to travel in a self-driving car

A recent survey by price comparison site uSwitch has found that 49% of British adults would refuse to be a passenger in a self-driving car. The responders stated that they wouldn't trust the systems to be able to make a human decision when faced with a difficult situation. Safety and privacy were also issues as 45% of those quizzed said they were worried that the software could be vulnerable to hackers and their personal data could be at risk. Furthermore, 40% were concerned that their insurance premiums would rise if the technology is introduced on public roads, even if they do not own an autonomous vehicle themselves, whereas only 15% felt premiums would go down as a result of the new technology. Lastly, 20% were concerned an autonomous vehicle would drive too slowly.

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Half worry an autonomous car won't be able to make difficult decisions

The Government may have earmarked £20million to accelerate research and development of autonomous cars in the UK, but almost half of adults say they wouldn't want to get in one.

That's according to new research by price comparison site uSwitch, which found 49 per cent of Brits surveyed would refuse to be a passenger in a driverless car.

These results emerged on Wednesday during the opening week of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where Ford has committed to expand its autonomous car testing programme.

Driverless doubts: Half of adults said they wouldn't trust a self-driving car to keep them safe

Two-thirds of the 3,497 British adults surveyed said they've lost faith in autonomous technology following reports of collisions involving the self-driving cars.

Google said in October last year that 11 of its self-driving test cars had been involved in accidents during development, while Tesla's Autopilot part-autonomous download for the electric Model S saloon launched in the same month resulted in a number of the systems failing during activation.

Not only did uSwitch find that almost half wouldn't get in a driverless car, it said 49 per cent of those surveyed wouldn't trust the systems to be able to make a human decision when faced with a difficult situation.

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Safety and privacy were also issues for some when asked about the uptake of autonomous cars — 45 per cent of those quizzed said they were worried that the software could be vulnerable hackers and their personal data could be at risk.

Two-fifths of those questioned believe their insurance premiums could skyrocket if the technology is introduced on public roads, even if they do not own an autonomous vehicle themselves.

Comparatively, Just 15 per cent believe their premiums would decrease if autonomous cars became mainstream, despite claims the technology could eliminate driving incidents caused by human error.

A fifth also said they were worried a self-driving car would stop suddenly or drive too slowly.

Of course, not all Britons are worried about the impact of an influx of autonomous cars on the road.

In fact, 44 per cent believed driverless cars will make the roads safer by removing the element of human error, 30 per cent think they will make their lives easier, and a quarter of surveyed adults see autonomous vehicles as the solution to tedious traffic jams.

In July last year, Business Secretary Sajid Javid and Transport Minister Andrew Jones launched a £20million competitive fund to boost the nation's driverless vehicle initiative to put the UK at the forefront of the intelligent mobility market.

Google said last year that 11 of its autonomous test cars had been involved in crashes during testing

Online comparison site and switching service uSwitch said some people were concerned about the impact of autonomous cars on their insurance premiums

However, Rod Jones, insurance expert at uSwitch, said the government has to answer the concerns of consumers to get them onboard with the idea.

'While the Government is motoring ahead with its driverless car plans, these could be put into reverse gear if consumers’ concerns aren’t addressed,' he said.

'Whether it's confronting Google car collisions or clarifying confusion around liability in the event of a crash, cautious consumers have a number of worries.

'With human error accounting for around 90 per cent of road accidents, the potential safety benefits of driverless cars are significant.

'But, if Britain is to become the world leader in driverless car technology, the Government, manufacturers and the insurance industry must address consumers’ concerns head on.'

The results coincided with announcements from manufacturers at CES this week of increased autonomous development.

Ford's Fusion — better known in the UK as the Mondeo — has already been testing the autonomous system

Ford said it is tripling its fleet of fully autonomous Ford Fusion Hybrid test vehicles in the US – making it the largest in the automotive industry – and will use a new-generation sensor technology as the company advances with its driverless vehicle development plans.

Raj Nair, Ford executive vice president, said: 'Using the most advanced technology and expanding our test fleet are clear signs of our commitment to make autonomous vehicles available for millions of people.

'With more autonomous vehicles on the road, we are accelerating the development of software algorithms that serve to make our vehicles even smarter.'

Nvidia also announced it had created a 'supercomputer in a lunchbox' for driverless cars — a system it said is strong enough to power 150 Macbook Pro computers.

The GPU developer's supercomputer is already being tested by carmakers including Audi, BMW, Ford and Mercedes-Benz.

Kia also launched the autonomous Drive-Wise sub-brand that'l be used to showcase upcoming self-driving tech and BMW unveiled the i8 Vision concept — essentially an i8 Spyder — that also previewed a driverless system.