Most Canadians don't want to own an autonomous vehicle

Article content

A recent report by CarGurus indicates that Canadians are split when it comes to autonomous vehicles. Conducted in April 2021, the study surveyed automobile owners in Canada about their thoughts and reception to self-driving and driver assistance features. The results indicate that while there is some excitement about self-driving features, Canadian drivers are just as equally concerned about the technology.

Article content

While 32 per cent of those polled are excited about the development of self-driving vehicles, 29 per cent are concerned and 38 per cent are neutral about it.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Most Canadians don't want to own an autonomous vehicle Back to video

Results

Nearly half of those surveyed prefer to be the ‘pilot’ in a self-driving vehicle, showing Canadians understand the role they play when the tech becomes available. However, 36 per cent of those polled said they weren’t comfortable with any of the self-driving scenarios identified by CarGurus ’ survey, showing there is still some distance to make up for AV adoption.

Those polled showed plenty of concerns about self-driving technology, with nearly half of respondents believing that cars equipped with such a feature will be very expensive. Just 44 per cent responded they’re not comfortable relying on these features for safety, while 41 per cent said they’re worried about who is responsible when something goes wrong. Just a quarter believe that the technology isn’t ready yet, which is wild considering that there are no self-driving vehicles available, and just a select few vehicles that can operate without your hands on the wheel.

Article content

Designated driver or binge-watch enabler?

When it comes to imagining a world with self-driving vehicles, over half of the participants in the survey want an autonomous vehicle to drive them home safely when they’re too tired or potentially under the influence of alcohol. Other popular scenarios include self-parking/valeting cars, vehicles that can pick up groceries, or technology that can carpool your kids to school or other activities. Some workaholics believe they’ll use self-driving vehicles to get more work done while on the go, while media addicts feel they’ll catch up on their social feeds, the latest movies and TV shows, or find other ways to entertain themselves while being chauffeured about in an autonomous car.

Article content

Canadians Dig Driver Aids

The report addressed Canadians’ attitudes towards driver assistance features as well. Of those surveyed, 70 per cent agreed that driver aids improve the safety of car travel. Many even expressed interest in features like blind-spot monitoring, pedestrian detection, surround-view cameras, automatic emergency braking, driver attention monitors, rear-cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, automatic parking, and traffic sign recognition. The good news is that new vehicles today offer many of these features as standard equipment.

Think back to whether these features were available as far as five or ten years ago — would you have imagined technology to advance to the point where even a Toyota Corolla would have standard driver assistance technology? The final thing to point out in CarGurus ’ survey is that only 17 per cent said they’d consider owning a self-driving vehicle in the next five years. Extend the time frame to ten years, and that figure doubled, showing people have tempered expectations for the future of autonomous vehicles.