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5.0
The car of the future
In terms of other potential benefits,
only a third (33%) of all motorists
think that the adoption of driverless
technology will be better for the
environment and even fewer (28%)
expect autonomous vehicles to ease
the severity of traffic jams.
However, a significant proportion of
motorists questioned on these two
topics said they were unsure as to
what effects driverless cars would
actually have. Just one in five (21%)
think driverless technology will lead
to shorter journey times against 35%
who do not and a further 35% who
are not sure. A third of people (34%)
think fewer people will use public
transport when driverless cars are
common (against 22% who disagree
with this assertion) and 31% think
fewer people will own their own car
when driverless vehicles enter the
mainstream (against 23% who don’t).
The Government aspires for the
UK to be a leader in connected and
autonomous vehicles and for the
economy to benefit from them.
A successful home market for
such vehicles requires potential
purchasers who are well informed,
understand the user benefits,
and are enthusiastic about the
prospect of having a driverless
car at their disposal.
The number of those who responded
to this series of questions by
saying that they did not know the
answer suggests that in parallel
with the technology and legislative
programmes needed to pave the way
for driverless cars, there is a need
for a communications programme
that informs and enthuses the
motoring public.
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RAC Report on Motoring 2016
“The fact that most motorists don’t think that
driverless cars will make roads safer and won’t
even have an impact on congestion is driven either
by scepticism over what autonomous vehicles
have to offer, or by a lack of understanding.”
DARYL LLOYD
Head of Road Safety Statistics
Department for Transport