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65% of Drivers: Self-Driving Cars Are Dangerous | DrivingSales News

65% of Drivers: Self-Driving Cars Are Dangerous

November 18, 2014 0 Comments

self-DRV

Self-Driving technology has been a hot topic during 2014. From speculation of when fully autonomous vehicles will hit roadways to questions as to how they will look or how much they will cost, it’s been a frequent headline maker. Back in June we reported that a survey of 2,000 adult drivers had revealed that 22.4% of those polled would be very likely to purchase an anonymous capable vehicle. 24.5% said that they never would. With hypothetical insurance discounts of 80% the number individuals who said that they would buy a self-driving capable car went up to 37.5%. One of the paramount concerns for those who hope to make self-driving cars more “mainstream” is that of consumer acceptance. Fears of a computer being responsible for their safety at 70 miles per hour may be enough to keep many away from this relatively new technology.

A new Harris Poll study in conjunction with Autotrader took on this very topic. The results of this study were even more revealing about where consumers stand on automotive safety. The poll consisted of 1,033 U.S. vehicle owners polled from October 15th through the 20th of this year. 65% of those polled felt that fully autonomous vehicles are a dangerous idea. 61% think that vehicles with self-driving features like parking assist and collision avoidance are something that they might consider in the future. The argument for self-driving cars has always been to encourage safety. Bob Lutz, former Vice Chairman for GM, is in total support of autonomous cars, which he feels are safer than those driven by humans. The autonomous car doesn’t drink, doesn’t do drugs, doesn’t text while driving, doesn’t get road rage,” Lutz said in an interview with CNBC.” Lutz even compared self-driving cars to teenagers and sleepy drivers. “Young, autonomous cars don’t want to race other autonomous cars, and they don’t go to sleep.” Lutz was very supportive of self-driving technology as he talked about what General Motors is doing in that field right now. “In Cadillacs and a lot of other high-end cars, we’ve got three-quarters of the system operating today.” Reports indicate that by 2017, the “Supercruise” system will be part of one of the Cadillac vehicles. That semi-autonomous system will allow the vehicle to be kept in its lane and at a safe distance away from other vehicles using radar and cameras.

The same Autotrader study, which found Americans leery of self-driving cars, also found that they are more concerned with safety than staying connected. 84% of those polled feel that safety features are more important than infotainment. Blind spot detectors and backup cameras topped the list of those features, which were deemed the most important. However, when consumers did show interest in infotainment, 48% said that they would walk away from a vehicle that they liked if the in-car tech was too difficult to use. According to an Autotrader press release, this represents a great opportunity for dealers. Michael Krebs, Senior Analyst for Autotrader, explained, “The fact that consumers are in need of this education combined with how much technology is influencing the purchase decision is a huge opportunity for dealers… salespeople who can actively show shoppers how easy these features are to use, and demonstrate the benefits will build a trusted relationship with the shopper to help seal the deal.”

What are your thoughts about infotainment? Do you train your staff on how to use all of the new systems so that their test drives are an education experience? Do you have consumers asking you about self-driving features? How much do you they want to know about safety vs. infotainment? Do you think that fully self-driving cars will ever be accepted as a common mode of transportation?

About the Author:

The DrivingSales News team is dedicated to breaking the relevant and the tough stories affecting car dealers. Have questions for DrivingSales News? Reach the team at news@drivingsales.com.

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