Nearly two-thirds of Americans are concerned about sharing the roadways with driverless cars, according to a survey published by Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety.
The results, according to the survey:
- 31 percent are very concerned.
- 33 percent are somewhat concerned.
- 18 percent are not very concerned.
- 16 percent are not concerned at all.
The greatest level of concern comes from the South, where 68 percent said they were somewhat to very concerned, according to the survey.
The survey comes in the aftermath of a bill titled the "SELF Drive Act" passed in the House in September and a Senate bill titled "AV START Act" is awaiting action on the floor.
"These poll results should be an urgent wake-up call to change course," said Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. "We urge our nation's leaders to listen carefully to the concerns of the American people and to take an immediate course correction to address significant safety shortcomings and serious public concerns revealed in the poll."
Further, 63 percent are not in favor of Congress giving mass exemptions to manufacturers on the first 100,000 self-driving cars produced, a provision both congressional bills include.
And 75 percent are not in favor of disconnecting vehicle controls like the steering wheel, brakes and accelerator in an autonomous vehicle (AV) being operated by a computer.
"Autonomous vehicles have the potential to be a technological vaccine that could dramatically reduce the tragic toll that autos take on our society," said Jack Gillis, director of Public Affairs for the Consumer Federation of America. "However, like any successful vaccine, they need to be thoroughly tested to specific standards, before they are made available to the public."
The survey of 1,005 adults was conducted Dec. 7-10, 2017, and has a margin of error of 3.09 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.
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