AAA: Most People Don't Trust Autonomous Vehicles

by Chris Teague

Published: March 15th, 2024

aaa most people don t trust autonomous vehicles

Most people in the U.S. are distrustful of autonomous vehicles. That’s the message from AAA’s latest study, which found that a surprising number of people express fear, and many are uncertain about autonomous technology.

AAA found that 66 percent of drivers are afraid of autonomous vehicles, and 25 percent are uncertain about having them on the roads. Greg Brannon, AAA’s director of automotive engineering, said, “There has been an increase in consumer fear over the past few years. Given the numerous and well-publicized incidents involving current vehicle technologies – it’s not surprising that people are apprehensive about their safety.”

Driver attitudes about driverless vehicles have always leaned skeptical, but the number of people expressing fear jumped last year and will remain elevated in 2024. In 2021, 54 percent of people said they were afraid, which grew to 55 percent in 2022. The number spiked to 68 percent in 2023 and fell only slightly heading into 2024.

Though people are skeptical, AAA found that drivers are still interested in driver assistance tech with autonomous features. Most – 65 percent – said they wanted reverse automatic emergency braking, while 63 percent said they wanted forward automatic emergency braking. That said, AAA noted that people generally have too much faith in the systems and believe they’re much more capable than they really are,

AAA also said that advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) should give drivers a higher level of awareness instead of tricking them into thinking the car is driving itself. The organization also rightly pointed out that there are no self-driving cars on sale, which is a safety concern when 40 percent of drivers believe they can buy one today.

[Image: Sundry Photography via Shutterstock]

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Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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4 of 16 comments

RHD on Mar 16, 2024

The only reason driverless cars would exist is if there is a way to make money from them. A taxi without a paid taxi driver could be very profitable. Uber would lay off all of their "private contractors".
Considering how badly some cars are driven with a human driver, it would seem logical to many that a car with no driver at all would perform even worse. A robot has no common sense, but some humans also fit this description.

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VoGhost on Mar 17, 2024

Did anyone ask the AVs if they trust human drivers?

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- See 1 previous
- ToolGuy on Mar 18, 2024
  
  Thank you VoGhost for your meaningful contribution.
  
  1
- Paul Alexander on Mar 18, 2024
  
  @ToolGuy Hahaha!
  
  Like

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