Public Wary of Automated Vehicles

The vehicle-buying public is taking an increasingly dim view of fully automated vehicles, a new study shows.

For the second year in a row, consumer confidence in self-driving cars eroded, J.D. Power found in its annual U.S. Mobility Confidence poll. The consumer readiness index fell by two points to 37 on a 100-point scale, making for a five-point decline from 2021.

Readiness for cars to do the transportation job on their own is low across all metrics. J.D. Power said the stance is affected by lack of knowledge about the technology behind automated vehicles and by news coverage of robotaxi and testing failures.

People who’ve ridden in robotaxis in San Francisco or Phoenix score 67 on the index, though, J.D. Power said, showing that actual experience is crucial to adoption. It said confidence in the technology is higher in Western states that have experienced more testing and deployments.

“These positive firsthand experiences need to be shared with the public to educate, providing balance to the negative news cycle,” J.D. Power said in a press release on the study findings.

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