We keep hearing about driverless cars and Erica
Herrero-Martinez from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers sent me this information
about a new survey.
UK Government and companies such as Google, Ford
and Uber are all championing driverless car technology, but according to this
latest public survey much more work is needed to convince the public of the
benefits of driverless vehicles.
According to the
survey, carried out on behalf of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 55% of the 2002
people surveyed said they were unlikely to want to be a passenger of a driverless
car, with 40% said they were very unlikely to want to be a passenger. Just 21%
of the people surveyed 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% 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.
- “UK Government and industry is increasingly aware
of these benefits of driverless technologies, and Government’s pledge in the
Queen’s speech to ensure insurance is available to users of driverless cars is
encouraging. But clearly there is still a long way to go to increase public
confidence in the effectiveness and safety benefits of driverless technology.
- “Many vehicles already feature driverless
technology, such as a self-parking functionality and automatic braking, so
public perceptions are likely to change over time. But if we truly want the UK
to become a world leader of driverless vehicle technology we need to get the
public on-side and championing the projects like Greenwich’s GATEway Project
and the Lutz Pathfinder in Milton Keynes.
- “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.”
Labels: driverless cars, technology
