Elon Musk believes self-driving cars are the future, but most Americans are wary, new survey shows

• Most drivers feel less safe in a car with self-driving features, a survey from Policygenius found.

• The majority of survey respondents also said they wouldn’t pay more for a car with autonomous tech.

• Self-driving cars have captured headline over the years — and it’s not always been positive.

Tech entrepreneurs like Elon Musk have said that self-driving cars will make regular vehicles obsolete, but most Americans are wary.

A new survey found that three out of every four Americans feel less safe driving or riding in a car that has self-driving features. Similarly, 73% of survey respondents also felt less safe knowing others are on the road in vehicles with autonomous car features.

The survey was performed by Policygenius, an insurance platform, and it represents the responses of about 1,500 US residents over the age of 18.

“Whether because of road rage, reckless driving, or car accidents, it’s understandable that many people are wary of taking their eyes off the road and relying on a self-driving car,” Rachael Brennan, a licensed property and casualty insurance expert at Policygenius, said in the press release. “As advances in autonomous vehicle technology continue, auto companies and insurance companies will need to resolve a number of challenges, from helping people feel safe on the road to navigating new insurance implications, like who is at fault in an autonomous vehicle incident.”

Major automakers like Ford, General Motors, and Tesla are betting big on self-driving. Last year, Ford said it plans to spend $7 billion on honing its self-driving tech, while GM plans to spend $2 billion this year alone on its self-driving service Cruise.

Meanwhile, Musk has made Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) features hallmarks of the electric-car brand. The Tesla CEO has repeatedly said the carmaker will release a fully autonomous FSD to the public — though the timeline has shifted over the years. Tesla currently offers FSD as a $15,000 add-on or $199 per month subscription, but the feature is in beta mode and still requires a licensed driver to monitor the vehicle.

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Despite the multi-billion dollar investments, nearly 80% of the survey respondents said they wouldn’t pay more for a car with self-driving tech.

It’s not the first survey to show hesitance from US buyers when it comes to wading into self-driving technology. Earlier this year, AAA published a report that found 85% of people in a survey of over 1,100 individuals wouldn’t feel comfortable using the autonomous tech to transport their loved ones.

Autonomous driving technology has captured headline over the past few years — and it’s not always been positive. In June, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it had launched investigations into dozens of Tesla crashes that occurred while the driver assistance feature, Autopilot, was in use. Tesla drivers and Waymo passengers have also often taken to social media to post videos of bugs in the services.

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