With most vehicles now marketed globally, car makers have to take into account the views of drivers in many different countries when designing vehicles. However, when these ideas differ dramatically, it is not always easy, as a new survey by Thatcham Research into vehicle automation has found. 

The Trust in Automation study found different view in the USA and UK when it comes to an autonomous future. The Research organisation polled the opinions of 2,000 motorists in the US and 2,000 in the UK and found that US drivers are far more open to the idea of self driving cars. 11% of US drivers said they would buy a car with self-driving capability as soon as possible versus just 4% in the UK.

Asking drivers what they would miss most about driving a manually operated car also uncovered some fascinating contrasts in driving behaviours. Although the drivers surveyed were largely in agreement about missing being in control themselves 17% of American motorists said they would miss being able to drive aggressively when they felt it was necessary versus just 6% in the UK, while 19% in the US said they would miss bending the rules of the road compared with only 9% in the UK.

Matthew Avery, chief strategic research officer, at Thatcham Research commented, “This is an intriguing challenge for system developers. We know that brands are designing Automated systems to follow local human driving patterns, making the car’s driving style more or less assertive as relevant.”

Although US drivers appear to be more open to Automation, they are also far more likely to be convinced that current technology can provide a fully autonomous driving experience. 72% in the US versus just 52% in the UK think that it’s possible to buy a car today that can drive completely autonomously, as safely as a competent human driver would.

Mathew comments, “Could this be the Autopilot effect at play? The claims made by big brands offering ‘full self-driving’ packages have clearly been taken on board by American drivers.”

When asked how they felt about taking back control from the first cars with self-driving capability,  just under half (48%) of American motorists said they were comfortable with the idea of an emergency handover request from the system. In the UK this number drops to 32%.

The Trust in Automation study has also identified a ‘digital divide’ appearing between younger and older UK drivers. 68% of UK drivers aged 55 or over said they would be uncomfortable at the prospect of resuming control from the system, a figure that decreases incrementally through the age groups, to just 28% of 17–24-year-olds.

Older age groups were also found to be the most sceptical of Automation in general, with 38% of the over 55s seeing no benefit to self-driving cars, compared to only 10% of 17–24-year-olds.