WHILE self-driving cars are the future of motoring, we are told, the public are not ready to trust driverless cars.

A survey by intelligentcarleasing.com grasped the nettle to ask the public what they thought as manufacturers and governments press ahead with the new future of transport.

They questioned 1,750 adults aged 18-65+ in a survey on the subject.

And the public’s response was a resounding 61% in support of hands-on human-controlled vehicles, showing that autonomous car manufacturers have a long way to go to get the public on board.

Implications of public attitude

This is a very important issue for both policy makers and car manufacturers. The credibility of driverless vehicles is by no means cemented, considering a self-driving bus encountered a collision just two hours into its first day of operation in Las Vegas recently.

Combine this with transport secretary Chris Grayling targeting 2021 for driverless cars to be on the UK’s roads, the public’s attitude to autonomous vehicles has become a much more pressing concern.

Autonomous vehicles might be road legal and mechanically ready. However the public need to be on board or else the technology could be a massive flop.

Responses differ with age and gender

Within the responses Intelligent Car Leasing received, there were noticeable differences in attitudes between certain age groups and genders.

Female respondents had 10% more confidence in human driven vehicles compared to their tech-loving male counterparts.

There was an even bigger disparity when looking at the difference in responses by age. The over 65s had a hugely noticeable 17% higher confidence in human drivers, compared to the younger 18-25s category.

See full results and potential reasons for responses here, including the option to download the entire response data set.