- The majority of Americans want automakers to improve safety systems in vehicles instead of going all-in on robotaxis.
- A study by AAA indicates that Americans increasingly favor systems such as Autonomous Emergency Braking and Lane Keeping Assist.
- Most survey respondents were also skeptical of active driver assistance systems, but enthusiasm for robotaxis dropped sharply from last year.
Automakers are throwing a lot at American car buyers at the moment: electric vehicles, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, extended-range EVs and, now, a growing emphasis on robotaxis. Many consumers may not even be fully aware of the gazillion powertrain options that will soon be available to them across segments. The vast majority of us, after all, just want reliable and safe ways to get around, as proven by the latest study from the American Automobiles Association.
The AAA study of 888 respondents shows that trust in self-driving cars has slightly improved to 13% from 9% last year. However, 61% of drivers remain afraid of autonomous cars and 26% are unsure. That doesn’t paint the whole picture. Enthusiasm for the continued development of technology is eroding, decreasing from 18% to 13%. An overwhelming number of Americans—78% to be precise—instead want automakers to prioritize advancing safety systems.
Photo by: AAA
Tesla has been making plenty of noise around its robotaxi ambitions. However, its Autopilot and misleadingly named Full-Self Driving (FSD) systems have been mired in controversies and investigations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). CEO Elon Musk announced recently that Tesla would launch its ride-hailing service in Austin in June, with gradual plans of expansion in the second half of this year and next year. His Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has also fired several officials at the NHTSA, which has been investigating crashes involving ADAS systems. So his focus is directly opposed to what Americans want: Less focus on autonomous cars, and more emphasis on making existing systems safer.
The study found that 64% of the respondents were in favor of active safety systems like Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) instead of cars that drive themselves. The NHTSA has mandated automakers to install AEB in all vehicles model year 2029 onwards after the technology proved to be effective in reducing vehicle and pedestrian collisions. Automakers have opposed that ruling. A majority of the respondents in the AAA survey also favor features such as Lane Keeping Assist and Adaptive Cruise Control.
Currently, Waymo operates the only large-scale robotaxi service the U.S., after General Motors pulled the curtains on its Cruise robotaxi division last year. Waymo has scaled up its robotaxi service over the years to multiple U.S. cities, but that too hasn’t come without crashes or NHTSA investigations. GM and Ford, on the other hand, are now focusing more on improving consumer applications of advanced driver assistance tech instead of going all-in on robotaxis.
Only time will tell which approach turns out to be safer and more effective, but for now, it seems like the technology may be moving much faster than what users are ready for.
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