UK motorists give thumbs down to driverless cars

A survey by OSV Ltd shows that although the car industry is heading towards an autonomous car revolution, a whopping 75 per cent of the UK population do not want a driverless car. The survey also showed that the English were most against driverless cars, with 82 per cent stating that they did not want one.

This week the government announced plans to put £20 million into the research of driverless cars. Thanks to this funding, autonomous cars are set to be trialled in the UK by the end of the year.

With this in mind, OSV Ltd spoke to the UK population to find out if they wanted driverless cars. Surveys have previously been carried out when the conception of autonomous cars was first released. OSV wanted to find out if people’s opinions about driverless cars have changed now the research has developed.

The results from the survey carried out by OSV Ltd were overwhelming, with 75 per cent of the UK population stating that they did not want an autonomous car. Of the people surveyed, a huge 82 per cent in England said that they wouldn’t want one. People from Scotland are slightly keener than other countries in the UK with 26 per cent admitting they would want a driverless car.

Interestingly, men are more drawn to driverless cars than women, with 30 per cent of those surveyed stating that they would like one. Women are less likely to want an autonomous car with only 19 per cent sharing that same desire.

This contradicts other research which suggests women have the most to gain. Those with driverless cars will not need a driving licence and with more women than men without licences, women therefore will benefit the most.

Another insight from the survey found that 43 per cent of 18-25 year olds would want to buy an autonomous car. On the other end of the spectrum only 10 per cent of 55-64 year olds shared that same interest. Surprisingly, that figure rose to 27 per cent for the over 65’s, showing that the youngest and eldest age groups are the most interested in the driverless car revolution.