While embracing driver aids, Americans fear full automation, AAA says

Feb. 25—While Americans are increasingly eager to drive vehicles with driver-assistance systems like automatic emergency braking and lane-keeping assistance, a majority remain wary of full automation, the American Automobile Association found in its latest annual vehicle-technology survey.

Only 22 percent of respondents to the survey, conducted mainly online between Jan. 15 and Jan. 17 but with some telephone interviews, agreed that vehicle manufacturers should focus on developing self-driving vehicles, the auto club reported in a survey summary released Thursday morning.

But 80 percent said they want current vehicle safety systems to work better and 58 percent said they want such systems in the next vehicle they acquire.

"These findings signal that people are open to more sophisticated vehicle technology, which if they provide positive experiences for drivers, will open the road to self-driving vehicle acceptance," AAA said in its statement.

"People are ready to embrace new vehicle technology, especially if it will make driving easier," said Bob Kazmierczak, AAA Northwest Ohio's director of automotive solutions. "Consumers are clear about what they want and if automakers seize the opportunity to provide a better experience now, it will pave the way for the vehicles of tomorrow."

The auto club survey involved 1,010 interviews of Americans ages 18 and older. Overall, it found just 14 percent would trust riding in a self-driving vehicle, while 54 percent would be afraid to do so and 32 percent are unsure.

The survey results' release precedes by one day an online seminar the local auto-club chapter has scheduled, in conjunction with the University of Toledo's College of Engineering, regarding vehicular automation's interaction with pedestrians.

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"Keeping Pedestrians Safe in an AV World" is scheduled for an online presentation Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission is free but registration is required for access. A link to the event's page is available in the Events listing on the University of Toledo's website, www.utoledo.edu.

The program will feature as speakers James Jenness, the associate director and manager of human factors research for Westat; Assam Alzookery, the founder and chief executive officer of Intvo, and Bastien Beauchamp, the CEO of !important Safety Technologies.

The speakers are to be joined in a panel discussion by Laurie Adams, managing principal and director of traffic/safety for DGL Consulting and Marc Dilsaver, project manager for the city of Marysville, Ohio.

In March, 2018, a self-driving Uber test car with a human backup driver fatally struck a 49-year-old woman in Tempe, Ariz. who attempted to cross a street at night, outside of a crosswalk, while pushing a bicycle. Charges pending against the backup driver allege she failed to adequately monitor road conditions and fulfill her duty to take over in the event of an emergency, but Arizona authorities said Uber itself was not responsible for the pedestrian's death.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigation found, among other things, that the vehicle's automation system was not designed to recognize a jaywalking pedestrian and consequently failed to brake the vehicle in time.

While fully automated vehicles are only in testing stages, nearly 96 percent of 2020-model vehicles came equipped with at least one advanced driver-assistance system like automatic emergency braking, blind-spot warning, or lane-keeping assistance, AAA said. In many cases, the auto club said, these cars' buyers are interacting for the first time with such advanced technology.

"Previous AAA research has found that some systems, particularly those that provide the highest level of automation available to the public, do not always work as expected," the auto club said. "These negative experiences could influence driver opinion of future vehicle automation. It also reinforces the need for manufacturers to continue to hone vehicle technology by expanding testing and focusing on more real-world scenarios encountered by drivers."

The auto club said its survey's margin of error was "4 percent at the 95 percent confidence level."

First Published February 25, 2021, 7:00am