IAM survey – Driverless cars: Are they a good idea?
I can remember watching sci-fi movies as a kid and staring in awe at the futuristic worlds depicted where hover crafts and vehicles that did all the driving for us were common place. I used to imagine that a world like that might one day come true, but not in my lifetime. Technology has somehow garnered light speed and the early stages of futuristic vehicles are now in the works as we speak. Take for instance the driverless car. Would you go out and buy one today if they were available? Is the technology of today capable of producing a safe enough vehicle?
Independent road safety charity, IAM, has posted the results of a recent poll asking that very question (IAM survey – Driverless cars – 1,111 respondents). Here are the details from IAM's latest press release:
Forty per cent of motorists would never consider using a driverless car, according to the IAM‘s latest poll. Furthermore, 65 per cent of people are sceptical as to whether or not driverless technology is actually a good idea.
Driverless cars rely on radars, GPS and satellites to drive and navigate without the need for a driver to take control. Google’s driverless vehicle has so far driven a total of 300,000 miles without an accident. However, only one third of respondents agreed that this provides a strong argument that the removal of the human element from driving would benefit road safety.
The majority of motorists (815 of 1,088 respondents) believe that focus should be redirected from making cars better to making drivers themselves safer. Although, around half of respondents (500 of 1,088) feel that driverless cars are a good initiative for the future.
One aspect of advanced car technology is that vehicles would be unable to exceed the speed limit. Half of respondents think this is an attractive quality in the driverless car, while the remaining 50 per cent consider it strictly a disadvantage.
Other results show:
IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “The presence of driverless technology in every car is still many years away. In the meantime, more should be done immediately to improve driver standards and deal with the most common human errors through better training, as well as incentives by the government and insurance companies.
Of course technology has a huge role to play in road safety, but as long as there are cars on the road people will want to drive them. What we need to aim for is first class drivers operating first class vehicles.”
Although technology still has a way to go before we are all sitting in one of our futuristic self drive vehicles, I would be open to trying a driverless vehicle today. What about you? Which futuristic car or craft would you most like to see made today?
Independent road safety charity, IAM, has posted the results of a recent poll asking that very question (IAM survey – Driverless cars – 1,111 respondents). Here are the details from IAM's latest press release:
Forty per cent of motorists would never consider using a driverless car, according to the IAM‘s latest poll. Furthermore, 65 per cent of people are sceptical as to whether or not driverless technology is actually a good idea.
Driverless cars rely on radars, GPS and satellites to drive and navigate without the need for a driver to take control. Google’s driverless vehicle has so far driven a total of 300,000 miles without an accident. However, only one third of respondents agreed that this provides a strong argument that the removal of the human element from driving would benefit road safety.
The majority of motorists (815 of 1,088 respondents) believe that focus should be redirected from making cars better to making drivers themselves safer. Although, around half of respondents (500 of 1,088) feel that driverless cars are a good initiative for the future.
One aspect of advanced car technology is that vehicles would be unable to exceed the speed limit. Half of respondents think this is an attractive quality in the driverless car, while the remaining 50 per cent consider it strictly a disadvantage.
Other results show:
- Half of motorists don’t think that driverless cars will become popular.
- 56 per cent do not think there is a possibility that driverless cars will be the norm within the next ten years.
- 98 of 1,088 people think that driverless car technology is irresponsible.
- 22 per cent of respondents would use a driverless car.
- Over half of motorists think that automated systems should take control to prevent a crash.
- 92 per cent of people like the fact that with driverless car technology, the car behind would not be allowed to drive too close to you.
IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “The presence of driverless technology in every car is still many years away. In the meantime, more should be done immediately to improve driver standards and deal with the most common human errors through better training, as well as incentives by the government and insurance companies.
Of course technology has a huge role to play in road safety, but as long as there are cars on the road people will want to drive them. What we need to aim for is first class drivers operating first class vehicles.”
Although technology still has a way to go before we are all sitting in one of our futuristic self drive vehicles, I would be open to trying a driverless vehicle today. What about you? Which futuristic car or craft would you most like to see made today?
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