People are afraid to journey in autonomous automobiles, however they’re way more smitten by driving with the assistance of building-block applied sciences.

That is the mixed-message takeaway from a AAA survey of shoppers on their attitudes towards the inflow of expertise proliferating in right now’s automobiles and future ones.

Solely 14 % of respondents instructed researchers from AAA, the nation’s largest motoring group, they might belief a automobile to securely drive itself. Most — 54 % — are not sure about their emotions, whereas 32 % say they’d be afraid.

Regardless of COVID-19-related disruptions to transportation, these outcomes are much like the group’s ballot final 12 months, during which 12 % mentioned they’d belief a automobile to drive. Greater than 4 in 10 respondents on this 12 months’s survey mentioned the pandemic made no distinction of their curiosity in utilizing self-driving automobiles as a alternative for public transportation or ride-hailing companies.

The outcomes arrive at a time when extra auto and tech corporations are growing testing of driverless automobiles — these with out human security drivers as backups — on public roads. Firms corresponding to Motional, Cruise and Voyage have began such testing in current months. Waymo has expanded upon ongoing driverless exams.

These corporations intend to commercialize self-driving tech in ride-hailing fleets. Autonomous automobiles that customers buy from conventional dealerships? These probably will not be out there for years.

However among the foundational applied sciences — options corresponding to lane-keeping, automated emergency braking and adaptive cruise management — can be found on personally owned automobiles right now. Eighty % of drivers inform AAA they need these programs. The findings recommend shoppers could discover a path to acceptance of upper ranges of automation via constructive experiences with these driver-assistance options.

“Persons are able to embrace new automobile expertise, particularly if it would make driving safer,” mentioned Greg Brannon, AAA’s director of automotive engineering and trade relations. “Shoppers are clear about what they need, and if automakers seize the chance to supply a greater expertise now, it would pave the best way for the automobiles of tomorrow.”

AAA researchers carried out the survey in January, recording outcomes from 1,010 shoppers, with most surveyed on-line. The survey is the sixth annual one which AAA has carried out to gauge client sentiment on self-driving expertise. Due to a change in methodology two years in the past, the group cautions that apples-to-apples comparisons can solely be made between final 12 months’s examine and the present one.