Whichever carmaker hits the driverless market first with a vehicle shouldn't bother doing a lot of marketing or sales over in Britain. A new survey claims half of UK drivers aren't too keen on the car technology.
In fact, the survey reveals 60 percent deem it unreliable and 56 percent are not interested in purchasing one given the reliability concern and security worry.
It's a bit ironic, as Tech Times reported this week, given the UK government is all for driverless car technology. The UK Treasury is creating a fund for cities and towns interested in being test bed areas.
"Today's announcement will see driverless cars take to our streets in less than six months, putting us at the forefront of this transformational technology and opening up new opportunities for our economy and society," said Business Secretary Vince Cable.
The UK is actually one of the last into the driverless market. Japan did its first public test of driverless cars with the help of Nissan in 2013, and several U.S. states, most recently Florida, have approved public testing on specific roadways. Google's driverless cars been tested on over 300,000 miles on open roads in California.
Yet since they haven't showed up much yet on roads it's a bit much to expect a big embracement, notes Churchill Car Insurance, which conducted the study.
"It is still early days, however, so a certain amount of skepticism around such a significant development is to be expected. It is also still too early to be able to assess the implications a fully driverless car will have on insurance," said Steve Barrett, head of Churchill Car Insurance.
The insurance company polled 2,006 UK adults on driverless technology, which is being developed by several automakers and, of course, Google.
The survey shows big concerns beyond just security. Of those polled, 31 percent expect the car would break down a lot; 56 percent said they weren't comfortable that drivers/human wouldn't have any control; and 41 percent believe the car technology will increase fuel consumption.
Just 8 percent claim to have no fears about the technology, but just one in four are interested in buying such a vehicle.
"Driverless cars have a long way to go before they win people's confidence. Education on issues such as safety standards, including computer ethics, is needed, as well as a re-think on existing road rules and amendments to insurance regulation" said Barrett.
