Survey: Nearly half of Americans don't want a self-driving car

Consumers’ interest in automatic braking and other autonomous features is high, but drivers view self-driving cars as less safe compared to a similar survey conducted two years ago. Forty-nine percent of respondents said they would never own a fully-autonomous car, known in the industry as a Level 5 vehicle. Two years ago, 30 percent said they would never buy one.

Meanwhile, a majority of people (63 percent) believed in 2016 that roadways would be safer if all vehicles were fully autonomous. That number has dropped to 45 percent.

“As awareness around the development of autonomous technology increases, we’re seeing some dramatic shifts in consumer sentiment,” Karl Brauer, executive publisher of Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book, said in a news release. “People now have a deeper understanding of the complexities involved when creating a self-driving car, and that has them reconsidering their comfort level when it comes to handing over control.”