24 Percent of US Adults Say No to Self-Driving Cars

Twenty-four percent (24 percent) of American adults oppose self-driving cars and say that they will never use them.[1]

At the other end of the spectrum, 22 percent can’t wait to use them. In the interest of full disclosure, that’s my view. It’s been a couple of years since my first ride in an autonomous vehicle, an experience I looked forward to like a kid waiting for Christmas.[2]

Most Americans (54 percent) are somewhere in between the two extremes. They find the idea interesting but aren’t certain about them yet. The cultural implications of the transition to self-driving cars merit such uncertainty. Among other things, there is a possibility that most children born this year will never learn to drive.

When I wrote about my first experience in a self-driving car, I noted that it will take a generation or so "before we get fully autonomous cars that come when you summon them and let you ride without thinking about the road at all."

One reason for the gradual adaptation, noted in an earlier Number of the Day, is because Americans tend to hang on to their cars for an average of 11.2 years. There are still nearly two million cars on the road from the 1960s.

Although it will take time to get there, the potential benefits are significant. The vast majority of interactions between police officers and American citizens are related to cars and driving. Self-driving cars might eliminate more than 32 million such interactions every year, freeing police for other duties.

1. Statista, "Global Opinion Divided On Self-Driving Cars," April 16, 2018
2. Creators, "My First Ride in a 'Driverless' Car," February 12, 2016

   Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology. Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.​

   Scott Rasmussen is founder and president of the Rasmussen Media Group. He is the author of "Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System," "In Search of Self-Governance," and "The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt." Read more reports from Scott Rasmussen — Click Here Now.