Self-Driving Cars: What to Do with All That Spare Time?
August 31 2016 - 12:00PM
Business Wire
Drivers say they will likely be using the
phone, eating, reading books and watching movies.
It appears that semi-autonomous cars may not always be carrying
a driver who’s alert and ready to take over control of the vehicle
if necessary, according to a new survey from State Farm®.
State Farm conducted the survey to examine drivers’ knowledge,
attitudes, and potential behaviors regarding autonomous and
semi-autonomous vehicles. This survey was the second iteration of a
study first conducted in September 2013.
Autonomous cars can drive themselves without any human
involvement. Semi-autonomous cars include automated features but
may still require human operators in some circumstances.
The survey asked drivers how much more, or less, likely they
would be to engage in certain behaviors when a semi-autonomous
vehicle is driving itself compared to when they are driving the
vehicle. Knowing that there may be circumstances where the driver
may need to take over control a semi-autonomous car, survey
respondents said they would more likely be:
- Eating – 48 percent
- Reading texts – 45 percent
- Sending texts – 43 percent
- Taking pictures – 36 percent
- Accessing the internet – 36
percent
- Tending to children – 32 percent
- Recording videos – 26 percent
- Watching movies – 21 percent
- Reading a book – 19 percent
The survey findings were released during a presentation
yesterday at the annual meeting of the Governors Highway Safety
Association. “Drivers need to be aware that there may be unexpected
and critical situations when they will need to be in full control
of their semi-autonomous car,” said presenter Chris Mullen,
Director of Technology Research at State Farm. “This survey shows
that people want to do things other than drive during their trips;
there is a need for education so that consumers understand the
capabilities and potential limitations of their automated systems,
and what’s required of the driver.”
Additional findings: more awareness and more confidence in
technology.Compared to three years ago, considerably more
drivers have heard of self-driving vehicles. And though they did
not show an increased interest in purchasing a fully automated car,
compared to three years ago consumers are more confident in the
ability of self-driving cars to navigate safely on their own.
Although wide use of autonomous vehicles is years away, cars
with some automated features are already available, and most survey
respondents are knowledgeable about those features.
Consumers most want automated backup assistance and drowsy
driving detection.Respondents were provided with a description
of technologies that included backup assistance, parking
assistance, adaptive cruise control, adaptive headlights, lane
departure assistance, automated braking and drowsy driver
detection. While they were at least somewhat familiar with them
all, the features they were most interested in were backup
assistance and drowsy driving detection.
They see that vehicle-to-vehicle technology can improve
safety.Vehicle-to-vehicle technology allows the car to
communicate with other nearby vehicles. Roughly half of respondents
think vehicle-to-vehicle technology would be useful in increasing
safety and would be interested in having a car with this
technology.
Full reportFull survey findings and additional assets are
available at http://st8.fm/avr16.
MethodologyIn September 2013 and June 2016, the State
Farm Strategic Resources Department used an outside panel vendor to
conduct an online survey of U.S. consumers ages 18+. Survey
responses were received from approximately 1,000 consumers each
year, who identified themselves as having some insurance and
financial responsibility for their household. Of the total
respondents, only those who reported having a valid driver’s
license were used in the analyses in this report.
About State Farm®:The mission of State Farm is to help
people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the
unexpected, and realize their dreams. State Farm and its affiliates
are the largest providers of auto, home and individual life
insurance in the United States. Its 18,000 agents and more than
65,000 employees serve more than 83 million policies and accounts –
nearly 81 million auto, home, life, health and commercial policies,
and nearly 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance,
along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and
motorcycles, is available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance
Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State
Farm is ranked No. 35 on the 2016 Fortune 500 list of largest
companies. For more information, please visit
http://www.statefarm.com.
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State FarmMissy Dundov,
309-766-7087Missy.Dundov.sg5r@statefarm.com