New Yorkers and Californians Are Totally Ready for Autonomous Cars

From Road & Track

Volvo did on online survey to see what people think about autonomous driving, and this is what they've learned after getting nearly 50,000 responses worldwide:

• Nine out of ten New Yorkers and 86 percent of residents in California feel that autonomous cars could make life easier

• Residents in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Texas are less convinced than the average consumer about the safety benefits of autonomous driving. Only about half (52 percent) of Illinois respondents would trust an autonomous car to make decisions about safety, 10 percent less than the national average. Similarly, only 62 percent of Pennsylvanians think that having more autonomous cars on the road will eliminate traffic accidents versus a national average of 68 percent, and 60 percent of Texans believe autonomous cars could keep their family safer compared to 69 percent of people across the nation.

Volvo believes this is only further evidence that Americans need a federal framework for autonomous driving regulations. The survey also states that:

• Nationally, Americans are concerned about the pace at which lawmakers are responding to the prospect of autonomous cars. An overwhelming majority of respondents, 90 percent, believe governments and local authorities are slow to plan for autonomous cars.

• Across all states, a majority supported autonomous driving. However, 68 percent of people believe that driving manually is a luxury that must be preserved.

Amen. In case you hate reading, here's the whole thing in infographic form:

The latest Volvos like the S90 sedan and V90 wagon come with semi-autonomous functions as standard, and although I found them to be too much on the beta side, Volvo will continue developing its system with an autonomous driving pilot program called "Drive Me," which will will put 100 consumers in autonomous driving vehicles next year.

Hands off the steering wheels!