US: Self-driving cars will have to pry the steering wheel from our cold, dead hands, poll says

(theverge.com) - Americans like the idea of self-driving cars, but are less willing to cede control of the steering wheel to a computer program, according to a new poll released today. An overwhelming majority, 80 percent, said humans should always have the option to drive themselves, while 64 percent expressed a need to be in control of their own vehicle.

Moreover, people are essentially torn between the promise of safety and the need for control: 49 percent said they prefer a safer roadway even if it means they would have less control over their vehicle, while 51 percent said wanted to stay in the driver seat, safer streets be damned.

Opinions like these will become increasingly relevant as self-driving cars become more mainstream. Right now, they are floating in limbo between hype and skepticism. Uber is offering a handful of Pittsburgh residents free rides in its self-driving cars. Ford, BMW, andVolvo say they plan to offer autonomous vehicles for sale within the next five years. But most experts predict that widespread adoption is still a decade or more away

The idea of fully autonomous cars, with no steering wheel, no pedals, and no way for a human to intervene, is also something most Americans are unwilling to embrace. One-third of respondents to the poll said they would never buy a Level 5 autonomous vehicle, where there is no option for human control, while 16 percent said they would buy one the moment they were available.

In fact, most people haven’t even heard of “autonomous vehicles,” as compared to the more easily defined “self-driving car,” the poll shows. “This is good, because we live in our own little world, where the word ‘autonomous’ is this word that everyone knows,” said Karl Brauer, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book, which commissioned the poll of 2,200 US residents. “Forty-one percent are familiar with the term, while 59 percent are not." (FullText)