Criticism of robot cars

Criticism of robot cars

The industrial realization of autonomous driving has repeatedly experienced delays in recent years. Even though robotaxis from Waymo and Baidu are already driverless on the streets in cities like San Francisco, Phoenix and Beijing, the suitability of self-driving cars for everyday use is still a thing of the future. “Large parts of the industry are currently eagerly awaiting the decision of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on autonomous driving regulation,” says Alexander Reissigl, Head of Auto & Motor at willhaben, and explains: “For this reason, we asked more than 2,640 willhaben users in March whether they actually dream of self-driving cars - or whether they would rather sit behind the wheel themselves.”

Better to have your hands on the wheel

On the whole, respondents are rather skeptical about autonomous vehicles, which can drive themselves without human intervention using sensors, cameras and artificial intelligence. At 45.2 percent, the proportion of those who perceive this development as “rather negative” or “very negative” is significantly higher than the 36.9 percent who view it as “very positive” or “somewhat positive” – the rest remain “neutral”. "It turns out that the proponents of this technology tend to be male and under 59 years of age, live in Vienna, Salzburg and Upper Austria, often have a higher monthly net income of 2,500 euros or more and have often invested an above-average amount in the car they recently bought - from 30,000 euros or even much more," outlines Reissigl and adds: "Women, on the other hand, express themselves critically much more often. However, the skepticism is particularly pronounced “also with increasing age, especially from the age of 60 and among people who live in Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Burgenland. Aside from demographics, an important factor is also the intensity of use: people who drive less often tend to be more in favor of autonomous vehicles.”

Doubts about the technology

Doubts are particularly high when it comes to the question “How likely is it that you would use a car with full self-driving in the next ten years?” An overwhelming majority of 66.6 percent consider this to be “very unlikely” (47.4 percent) or “somewhat unlikely” (19.2 percent). Skeptics justify this primarily with the statements “I prefer to drive myself and have no interest in autonomous driving” (55.7 percent), “concerns about the safety of autonomous vehicles” (42 percent) and the assumption that “the technology will not be sufficiently mature by then” (26.7 percent), although multiple answers were possible. Meanwhile, just over a quarter of those surveyed expect to be driving an autonomous vehicle by 2035 - among other things because they "trust that the technology will become mature and reliable in the next few years" (71 percent), because they "expect that political and legal framework conditions will be created by then to enable the safe and regulated use of autonomous vehicles" (52 percent) and because "autonomous driving makes traffic smoother and more environmentally friendly" (50.4 percent). Here too, multiple entries were an option. But what if full self-driving has actually arrived on Austria's roads - what influence would this have on the decision to buy a new car? Here, too, almost half are negative and believe that this would have a “little” (15.5 percent) or “no influence” (32 percent) on their purchasing decision. When asked which manufacturers would be most likely to develop a safe, autonomous vehicle, the following five brands came out on top in that order: Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen and Tesla.