AAA conducted a survey of its members and says that “three out of four U.S. drivers report feeling “afraid” to ride in a self-driving car.” Here’s the press release.
Since a switch to self-driving cars would probably decimate membership (in literal and figurative senses) of the American Automobile Association, they’re not exactly unbiased. I’m not sure of the actual question(s) they asked which led to their conclusion and as we know, when it comes to surveys on vague hypothetical issues, wording and question order make all the difference.
Still, it shows that the road to autonomous vehicles is likely to face many non-technical obstacles.
And speaking of autonomous cars, the April 5 Science Cafe Concord will discuss that very issue. The cafe last night, which discussed CRISPR and gene editing, was standing-room-only, and I can’t image the crowd for self-driving cars will be smaller – so you might want to show up early.
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