Driverless Cars Are a Tough Sell to Americans

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • 75% would use own human-operated car even if driverless cars were common
  • 52% say they would never want to use a self-driving car
  • 34% personally enjoy driving "a great deal"; 44% "a moderate amount"

These findings are from an April 23-29 Gallup poll that explored Americans' driving habits and their attitudes toward cars -- both human-operated and driverless. While majorities of all demographic groups say they would want to own or lease a car that they personally drive even when self-driving cars are common, there were several notable differences among subgroups.

  • Those who do not enjoy driving much or at all (36%) are three times as likely as those who enjoy driving a great deal (11%) to say they would own a driverless car.
  • College graduates (29%) are more than twice as likely as those who are not college graduates (13%) to say they would own a self-driving car.
  • Americans living in cities (23%) and suburbs (24%) are more than twice as likely as those living in small towns and rural areas (10%) to say they would own a driverless car.