Two-thirds of drivers are against the recently announced plans to have driverless cars on the UK’s roads next year.
This is according to a survey by SmartWitness, which specialises in car incident cameras. Its poll showed 66 per cent of motorists believe further checks should be carried out before launching the technology.
The poll was carried out after business secretary Vince Cable said last month that a £10 million trial of driverless technology has been approved for January 2015, when tests will be conducted in three yet-to-be-confirmed cities.
One of the aims of the trial is to position the UK as a leader in research into this type of technology. Both fully autonomous cars and vehicles with a driver capable of taking over the controls at any time will be tested.
However, both drivers and experts have expressed concerns over the plans. SmartWitness’s survey shows four in five drivers think the so-called robo cars would make insurance claims over collisions involving one of these vehicles more complicated.
The argument is that the cause of any such crash would almost always be attributed to computer error, which could drive up insurance premiums for owners of driverless cars.
“There is a big leap of faith needed by drivers from embracing assistance systems to accepting the fully automated car,” David Bruce, director of AA Cars, said shortly after the original announcement.
“Two-thirds of AA members still enjoy driving too much to want a fully automated car.”
Referring to the survey finding that almost nine in ten drivers support installing cameras in robo cars, Simon Marsh of SmartWitness commented: “There will be serious issues surrounding the insurance on driverless cars unless they use incident cameras that provide court admissible data.”
As part of the plans, the Department for Transport is expected to review road laws to enable driverless cars to be trialled on public roads, with a report on this expected to be submitted to the government by the end of this year, the Guardian reports.