BY KEVIN SAWYER – Recent research released this week by Kelly Blue Book shows that Americans continue to be wary and leery of these new self driving vehicles. Kelly found that over 80% of the people they spoke with still want to remain in control of the vehicle despite this new self driving technology.
Car makers continue to pour billions of research dollars into the self driving technology seemingly unaware that the public may not embrace the idea with the enthusiasm that they have embraced it. Last year, polling giant Harris found that 80% of Americans agree that self driving vehicles will be here soon but that those 80% wouldn’t go out and purchase one.
The last ten years or so have not been great for the car makers. Their sales numbers have not been stellar and there have been many scandals with regard to safety and with regard to cheating people such as the recent Volkswagen debacle. Not to mention the billion dollars that Toyota had to pay out because they didn’t tell the buying public that some of their cars could suddenly accelerate without any reason or cause.
It seems that people just don’t trust the car companies with regard to their honesty and their engineering ability. Self driving cars seem all well and good but how about making a regular car that doesn’t explode or suddenly start racing off down the highway?
Despite all of the celebration and indoctrination, self driving vehicle technology still has a long way to go before anything shows up in the nation’s showrooms. Currently, there are five levels of self driving technology that need to be perfected for a fully self driving vehicle to exist. Driver assisted vehicle technology, which is level one, is the farthest any maker has been able to get to thus far. And, even with that, many self driving cars have been crashing by themselves or are being crashed into by other drivers.
And, of course, the automotive industry continues to blather and babble on about such technology saving lives and countless billions of dollars. The public, however, doesn’t seem all that convinced yet.
PHOTO CREDIT: Maximilian Watcher