The technology’s not even perfected yet but the acceptance of driverless cars already appears high among Aussie motorists.
A poll by research firm Roy Morgan showed that male drivers were most likely to embrace a driver-free drive with 51 per cent agreeing they’d drive in a driverless car now. However, female respondents were less enthusiastic with 41 per cent agreeing they would. The national average was 46 per cent.
Unsurprisingly, enthusiasm for driverless cars was greatest among the 18-24 year olds, some 83 per cent said they’d happily climb on board. It then diminished over the age brackets – 25-34 (58 per cent), 35-49 (52 per cent), 50-64 (38 per cent) and 65-plus (27 per cent).
Drivers in NSW were most likely to embrace the new technology (49 per cent) and Tasmania least likely (34 per cent).
Commenting on the study, Roy Morgan CEO, Michele Levine, said: “The closure of Australia’s automotive manufacturing industry this year in many ways heralds a shift from the old guard to the new world of mobility.
“This is particularly for younger Australians who increasingly congregate in inner urban where car-sharing services and Uber have changed the way Australians view their cars.
“The days when younger Australians argued over the merits of a Holden or a Ford, epitomised by the Bathurst 1000, are clearly long past as the simple utility of a vehicle able to get someone from A to B, or C, or D, or F, G, or wherever, are far more important than showing off a new factory model V8.
“Autonomous vehicles have been a reality for almost 10 years and we are all catching up. And many Australians are ready now,” she said.
