Nicola Laver LLB
NCTJ-qualified journalist and ex-solicitor
Research by claims.co.uk has shown that British drivers are highly uncomfortable about the thought of driverless cars arriving on the country’s roads. The survery, carried out by pollsters YouGov, asked people in Britain ‘how comfortable or uncomfortable do you think you would feel as a passenger in a driverless car?’. Over two-thirds of respondents said they would feel uncomfortable at the prospect, with only 21% saying they would be comfortable.
People are also concerned about how road accidents between driverless cars and other vehicles will be dealt with. More than half of those who took part in the study said they were worried that insurance companies would automatically assume that a human driver was at fault for the accident.
John Quail, managing director of claims.co.uk, said: “Technology can be a great thing if harnessed successfully and many of us already enjoy the benefits of driverless trains, trams and monorails connecting airport terminals, for example.”
“One suspects the advent of driverless cars is going to be fraught with more complex sociological and legal issues. At the moment, the general public look less than enamoured with the advent of driverless cars, and it remains to be seen if the technologists will be able to overcome the public fear factor. The proof of the pudding with all technologies of course, will be in the eating.”
The infographic illustrates how the people of Great Britain feel about driverless technology:
The tables below show the raw data taken from the YouGov survey, in response to the question, ‘Now thinking about driverless cars (i.e. a self-driving/ automated car that operates without a driver)… How comfortable or uncomfortable do you think you would feel as a passenger in a driverless car?’:
| Total | |
|---|---|
| Unweighted base | 2028 |
| Base: All GB adults | 2028 |
| Very comfortable | 6% |
| Fairly comfortable | 15% |
| Fairly uncomfortable | 29% |
| Very uncomfortable | 39% |
| Don’t know | 11% |
| Net: Comfortable | 21% |
| Net: Uncomfortable | 68% |
| Married / Civil partnership | Living as married | Separated / Divorced | Widowed | Never married | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unweighted base | 1036 | 260 | 183 | 65 | 484 |
| Base: All GB Adults | 1026 | 259 | 165 | 60 | 518 |
| Very comfortable | 6% | 9% | 2% | 4% | 6% |
| Fairly comfortable | 13% | 17% | 14% | 15% | 19% |
| Fairly uncomfortable | 30% | 31% | 25% | 15% | 29% |
| Very uncomfortable | 40% | 36% | 47% | 51% | 35% |
| Don’t know | 11% | 8% | 12% | 15% | 11% |
| Net: Comfortable | 19% | 26% | 16% | 19% | 25% |
| Net: Uncomfortable | 70% | 67% | 72% | 66% | 64% |
| North | Midlands | East | London | South | England | Wales | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unweighted base | 515 | 313 | 207 | 237 | 464 | 1736 | 123 | 169 |
| Base: All GB adults | 499 | 333 | 195 | 260 | 464 | 1750 | 101 | 176 |
| Very comfortable | 5% | 7% | 7% | 4% | 7% | 6% | 5% | 9% |
| Fairly comfortable | 13% | 14% | 19% | 16% | 16% | 15% | 9% | 15% |
| Fairly uncomfortable | 28% | 33% | 25% | 31% | 27% | 29% | 36% | 28% |
| Very uncomfortable | 41% | 36% | 39% | 37% | 41% | 39% | 41% | 38% |
| Don’t know | 12% | 11% | 11% | 12% | 9% | 11% | 9% | 10% |
| Net: Comfortable | 18% | 20% | 26% | 20% | 23% | 21% | 14% | 24% |
| Net: Uncomfortable | 69% | 69% | 63% | 68% | 68% | 68% | 77% | 66% |
| Working full time | Working part time | All Workers (NET) | Full time student | Retired | Unemployed | Not working / Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unweighted base | 882 | 267 | 1149 | 126 | 481 | 92 | 180 |
| Base: All GB adults | 902 | 245 | 1146 | 136 | 456 | 104 | 186 |
| Very comfortable | 8% | 5% | 8% | 5% | 3% | 8% | 4% |
| Fairly comfortable | 16% | 14% | 16% | 28% | 11% | 15% | 7% |
| Fairly uncomfortable | 31% | 31% | 31% | 31% | 25% | 23% | 28% |
| Very uncomfortable | 34% | 42% | 36% | 27% | 48% | 39% | 47% |
| Don’t know | 10% | 8% | 10% | 9% | 12% | 15% | 14% |
| Net: Comfortable | 25% | 20% | 24% | 33% | 15% | 23% | 10% |
| Net: Uncomfortable | 65% | 72% | 67% | 58% | 73% | 62% | 76% |
The tables below show the raw data taken from the YouGov survey, in response to the question, ‘To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?’
“I would worry that if I had to make a claim against a driverless car, I would automatically be classed as ‘at fault’ by insurance companies.”
| Total | |
|---|---|
| Unweighted base | 1745 |
| Base: All GB adults (with valid driving licence) | 1713 |
| Strongly agree | 18% |
| Tend to agree | 37% |
| Tend to disagree | 10% |
| Strongly disagree | 2% |
| Don’t know | 32% |
| Net: Agree | 56% |
| Net: Disagree | 12% |
| Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|
| Unweighted base | 844 | 901 |
| Base: All GB adults (with valid driving licence) | 847 | 866 |
| Strongly agree | 19% | 18% |
| Tend to agree | 37% | 38% |
| Tend to disagree | 13% | 6% |
| Strongly disagree | 3% | 2% |
| Don’t know | 28% | 36% |
| Net: Agree | 56% | 56% |
| Net: Disagree | 16% | 8% |
| Married / Civil partnership | Living as married | Separated / Divorced | Widowed | Never married | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unweighted base | 927 | 226 | 155 | 52 | 385 |
| Base: All GB Adults (with valid driving licence) | 902 | 222 | 128 | 47 | 414 |
| Strongly agree | 20% | 19% | 14% | 25% | 15% |
| Tend to agree | 37% | 34% | 40% | 40% | 39% |
| Tend to disagree | 9% | 14% | 5% | 9% | 12% |
| Strongly disagree | 2% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| Don’t know | 32% | 31% | 39% | 25% | 32% |
| Net: Agree | 57% | 53% | 54% | 64% | 53% |
| Net: Disagree | 11% | 16% | 7% | 11% | 15% |
| Working full time | Working part time | All Workers (NET) | Full time student | Retired | Unemployed | Not working / Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unweighted base | 802 | 226 | 1028 | 104 | 414 | 70 | 129 |
| Base: All GB adults (with valid driving licence) | 808 | 202 | 1011 | 117 | 385 | 70 | 131 |
| Strongly agree | 20% | 11% | 19% | 14% | 20% | 11% | 20% |
| Tend to agree | 37% | 40% | 38% | 34% | 38% | 41% | 35% |
| Tend to disagree | 10% | 8% | 9% | 20% | 8% | 4% | 12% |
| Strongly disagree | 3% | 3% | 3% | 0% | 1% | 8% | 0% |
| Don’t know | 30% | 39% | 32% | 32% | 33% | 36% | 33% |
| Net: Agree | 58% | 51% | 56% | 48% | 58% | 51% | 55% |
| Net: Disagree | 13% | 11% | 12% | 20% | 9% | 12% | 12% |
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