WORTHING-based broker OSV has released results from its recent survey that shows 72% of the UK population is concerned by the arrival of driverless cars.
Safety sits at the top of the list. Less than a third said the arrival of driverless cars gave them no issues.
Results showed that men were less concerned than women, with 36% of the men questioned stating that they were not anxious at all, compared to only 27% of women.
The most concerned age sector were the over 65s, with 100% of the respondents admitting they had concerns with at least one element.
Those most looking forward to the arrival of autonomous cars were aged between 25-34, with just 71% of this age range admitting that they had concerns.
Of the 500 surveyed by OSV:
- 28% disclosed that safety was their number one concern
- 18% said that they were most concerned by hacking, dodgy updates or malfunctions
- another 18% were worried about accidents or crashing.
Lower down the list of concerns came the question of ‘who will control the car’s moral compass?’ with 7% admitting that this was the most concerning element of driverless cars – only 5% shared that they were most concerned with who will govern self-driving cars.
With driverless cars set to be tested on UK roads very soon, the survey shows that manufacturers will have to work hard to gain mainstream acceptance.