As Self-Driving Cars Near, Fear Heightens

This article is published in collaboration with Statista

by Katharina Buchholz

While previous (now discontinued) surveys about self-driving cars had shown people warming up to the idea of taking their hands off the wheel, a newer survey by the American Automobile Association now attests that Americans might be getting cold feet as the advent of self-driving cars - or at least robotaxis - is drawing nearer. The survey also only queried drivers, which might be why it has been getting worse results. Additionally, accidents involving driver support systems as well as fully autonomous vehicles made headlines, especially in the U.S., in recent years and could have contributed to a change of heart for some.

Two thirds of U.S. drivers over the age of 18 said that they felt afraid in regard to self-driving vehicles, up from just 54 percent in 2021. Only 9 percent said they felt trust, down from 14 percent three years ago.

Probably the biggest U.S. incident in fully self-driving cars was an accident involving a Cruise robotaxi in San Francisco in October 2023, in the aftermath of which the GM subsidiary suspended operations in six U.S. cities. In the incidents, a different car hit a woman which was flung into the path of the Cruise robotaxi which did not assess the situation correctly due to the unusual way the pedestrian entered its path, did not stop and dragged the woman for 20 feet (6 meters). While the victim of this crash survived with major injuries, a 2018 accident with a self-driving car being tested in Tempe, Arizona, proved fatal for a pedestrian who was crossing a multi-lane road without a crosswalk when stuck by an Uber-Volvo prototype. While a safety driver was on board that day, the person didn't watch the road, a court found.

Tesla's driver assistance system, which does not constitute a fully autonomous driving experience, was involved in more than 700 crashes and 17 fatalities between 2019 and mid-2023, a Washington Post investigation has found. While it is not always easy to discern if the main cause of the accident was the driver using the system when they shouldn't have or whether the system was faulty, the situations that arise from these crashes can certainly be distressing as automated systems tend to make different mistakes from humans. In the case of a specific accident, it is therefore often obvious that a human driver could have reacted better, for example braking after having hit someone. However, automated driving systems do not make a lot of the mistakes humans are prone to, for example those tied to drowsiness, intoxication or speeding.

Researchers have found that self-driving cars tend to be better in routine situations, but that some maneuvers relatively easy for humans, like turning, can challenge them. Humans can also react better in totally new and unexpected situations that autonomous cars might not have been prepared for.

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