Drivers not ready for fully self-driving car, recent AAA survey shows
BALTIMORE - While the interest in partially-automated vehicle technology grows, a recent AAA survey shows that drivers are becoming more fearful of fully self-driving vehicles.
"We are seeing that many people are confused with terms like autopilot or pilot assist, and that is contributing to some of the confusion that makes consumers believe that these vehicles can, in fact, drive themselves," said Ragina Ali, Public and Government Affairs Manager for AAA Mid-Atlantic.
A self-driving vehicle is a vehicle that operates without human involvement.
A human is not required to control the vehicle at any time or even be present while the vehicle is moving.
While there are currently no cars available to the general public that are fully self-driving, AAA's annual automated-vehicle survey showed a 13 percent increase in drivers who say they are afraid of self-driving cars.
"We saw that this year about 68 percent of those surveyed indicated, they are fearful of self-driving vehicles," Ali said. "That's up from last year when only 55 percent expressed a fear."
In recent years, there have been many advances in vehicle technology, but experts still believe that fully self-driving vehicles are not in the near future.
"I think we're a little bit aways from that right now, until those technologies are a little closer to being on the market and available for the general public," Ali said.
