Survey - majority of people would be reluctant to be a passenger in a driverless car

According to a survey carried out by ICM Unlimited on behalf of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 55 per cent of the 2002 people surveyed said they were unlikely to want to be a passenger of a driverless car, with 40 per cent saying they were very unlikely to want to be a passenger. Just 21 per cent said they would be happy to ride in a driverless vehicle. Philippa Oldham, head of Transport and Manufacturing at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: “The benefits of driverless vehicle tech
May 27, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
According to a survey carried out by ICM Unlimited on behalf of the 5025 Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 55 per cent of the 2002 people surveyed said they were unlikely to want to be a passenger of a driverless car, with 40 per cent saying they were very unlikely to want to be a passenger. Just 21 per cent said they would be happy to ride in a driverless vehicle.

Philippa Oldham, head of Transport and Manufacturing at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: “The benefits of driverless vehicle technology are huge, with estimates that it could be worth as much as £51 billion a year to the UK due to fewer accidents, improved productivity and increased trade. Furthermore with 95 per cent of all vehicle accidents being the result of human error, it makes sense to look at how we can use this new technology to help save lives.

She said there is clearly still a long way to go to increase public confidence in the effectiveness and safety benefits of driverless technology.

“Government and industry must work together not only to better educate and inform the public about driverless car technology but to make sure that they are developing the products that the end users want.”
Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Brake, IAM concerned at government figures on UK drink-drive habit
    August 7, 2015
    Brake, the road safety charity, and the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), have responded to the latest government figures which they say show Britain is still failing to adequately tackle its drink drive problem. A final estimate shows 240 people were killed by drivers over the legal drink drive limit in 2013, while provisional estimates suggest at least that number were killed in 2014. However, the number of people seriously injured in drink drive crashes did fall by eight per cent to 1,100 from 20
    Read More
  • Making cars safer for vulnerable road users
    June 2, 2016
    Richard Cuerden considers measures to improve the safety of vulnerable road users. The competitive nature of the car market has seen an increase in protection for those travelling inside the vehicle and this is reflected in the casualty statistics -but the same does not apply to those outside the vehicle. And with current societal trends such as ageing populations, an increasing number of pedestrians and cyclists encouraged by environmental policies, this is an area that authorities such as the European Uni
    Read More
  • Vaisala: Weather data is vital for connected vehicles
    August 26, 2016
    Vaisala’s Dr Kevin Petty explains why the weather will continue to play a big part in road safety and traffic management in the smart cities of the future. The world is becoming increasingly connected. Thanks to advances in information and communications technology, the cities we live in are becoming ‘smart’, with everything from education to law enforcement managed by integrated tech solutions in a bid to improve quality of life.
    Read More
  • Auto safety initiative seeks to reduce driver errors
    December 2, 2013
    A push by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to use technology to reduce traffic fatalities aims to keep drunk drivers off the roads by using in-vehicle technology that immobilises their cars. They are pushing for systems that prevent drivers from starting their cars, help cars avoid collisions and prevent vehicles from starting if the occupants don’t wear seat belts. "Ninety per cent of all crashes have an element of human error," NHTSA administrator David Strickland said. "We really
    Read More

Highlighted Content