Allianz Global Assistance Reveals Interest In Self-Driving Vehicles Is Declining

Allianz Global Assistance’s Annual Sharing Economy Index Reports Americans’ Interest in Self-Driving Cars Falls Ten Percent From 2017

 

 

Richmond, VA, September 11, 2018 — Less than half of Americans (43 percent) are interested in utilizing self-driving cars, down from 53 percent last year, according to the fourth annual Sharing Economy Index* released byAllianz Global Assistance. The lack of interest is primarily attributed to safety concerns (71 percent in 2018, compared to 65 percent in 2017), while other reasons include cost/budget, lack of familiarity and bad publicity. Recent high-profile crashes involving self-driving cars have dampened America’s confidence and excitement over auto-piloted vehicles. In March, two self-driving vehicles were involved in fatal accidents.

 

Even more indicative of Americans’ sentiment on self-driving vehicles, only 52 percent of Americans (down 12 points from 2017) say they are confident that the technology will develop safely enough to consider trading their conventional vehicles for self-driving ones.

 

Companies continue to invest billions of dollars into autonomous vehicle technology, despite the recent fatal crashes. Supporting these Allianz findings is a Pew Research Center survey which found that 39 percent said they were not sure whether the vehicles would make roads safer or more dangerous, and 87 percent favored requiring that a human always be behind the wheel to take control if something goes awry.

 

“Based on consumer perceptions, our survey reveals an uncertain future for self-driving cars,” says Dan Durazo, director of communications, Allianz Global Assistance USA. “Many Americans are far from being convinced that self-driving cars can be operated safely on our streets. As our Future of Travel survey last year indicated, more travelers would feel safer on a rocket to space than being a passenger in a self-driving vehicle.” View the Future of Travelsurvey results here.

 

 

Self-Driving Cars
Recently there have been news stories in the media about ride-sharing services (i.e. Uber, Lyft, etc.) concerning safety and the regulation of ride-sharing services. Have these stories made you more or less likely to use these services as a result?
	2018	2017
Much more likely to use	6%	8%
Somewhat more likely to use	6%	7%
No impact	55%	50%
Somewhat less likely to use	19%	23%
Much less likely to use	14%	12%
If given the opportunity, how interested are you in utilizing self-driving/autonomous vehicles (Google, Uber, Tesla Autopilot, etc.)?
	2018	2017
Very interested	17%	22%
Somewhat interested	26%	32%
Not very interested	25%	24%
Not at all interested	32%	23%
What are the reasons for your lack of interest in self-driving/autonomous cars?
	2018	2017
Safety Concerns	71%	65%
Cost/Budget	21%	20%
Lack of Familiarity	23%	21%
Bad Publicity	12%	10%
I’d be interested eventually, but I don’t want to be a ‘guinea pig’	24%	21%
Other	9%	10%
How confident are you that self-driving/autonomous cars will develop safely enough for you to consider using?
	2018	2017
Very confident	18%	23%
Somewhat confident	34%	41%
Not very confident	31%	25%
Not at all confident	17%	11%

 

*Methodology: These are findings of an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Allianz Global Assistance. For this survey, a sample of 1,005 Americans from the Ipsos I-Say panel was interviewed from May 2 – 5, 2018. The precision of online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the results are accurate to within +/- 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had all American adults been polled. Quota sampling and weighting were employed in order to balance demographics and ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the actual U.S. population, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Credibility intervals are wider among subsets of the population.

 

 

Allianz Global Assistance USA

Allianz Global Assistance USA (AGA Service Company) is a leading consumer specialty insurance and assistance company.  We provide insurance to 35 million customers annually and are best known for our Allianz Travel Insurance plans. In addition to travel insurance, Allianz Global Assistance USA offers tuition insurance, event ticket protection, registration protection for endurance events and unique travel assistance services such as international medical assistance and concierge services. The company also serves as an outsource provider for in-bound call center services and claims administration for property and casualty insurers and credit card companies.

 

To learn more about Allianz Travel Insurance, please visitallianztravelinsurance.com or Like us on Facebook atFacebook.com/AllianzTravelInsuranceUS.