Autonomous vehicles: Would you trust a ride in a self-driving car?

The Tesla Cybercab was revealed in October at Tesla’s ‘We, Robot’ event in California and is planned to go on sale to the public in 2026, but is the UK ready for this level of automation on the road?

We asked our customers for their thoughts on autonomous vehicles both before and after the Tesla launch event. Despite the excitement around the event, the surveys tracked no real change in consumer opinion on these tech-first vehicles.

In fact the results of the survey suggest that more is needed to help us feel safer as passengers in autonomous vehicles.

Who would be comfortable riding in an AV?

Our survey reveals that most people aren’t yet at ease with the idea of riding in an autonomous vehicle. When asked, 60% of survey respondents said they would not be comfortable being a passenger in an AV, compared to just a fifth (21%) who would.

Some uncertainty around self-driving cars remains among many road users, too, with a further fifth (19%) stating that they aren’t sure if they’d like to experience being a passenger of one of these vehicles.

Only one in five respondents told Carwow they would be comfortable as a passenger in an autonomous vehicle – showing no change from our previous survey, before the Tesla event. Similarly, 59% said outright they wouldn’t want to ride in an AV, down just a fraction from 60% before the announcement.

There was a less than one percent difference among those who were unsure, rising from 19 to 20%.

Will AVs help to improve our roads?

While the UK government’s recent announcement suggested road safety would improve with autonomous vehicles on the road, our customers were not as convinced.

For instance, 44% don’t think autonomous driving will help reduce traffic jams or improve road safety, and a further 28% are still unsure if it will benefit either of these areas.

Despite the scepticism, some drivers are more optimistic about the future of AVs. Around a quarter (24%) believe that autonomous cars will help to enhance road safety, and 18% think they’ll help to cut down on congestion.

If anything, trust in the vehicles appears to have declined slightly since the event in California. Just 17% said they believe AVs will help to reduce congestion in future, down from 18%.

Most opinions remain unchanged since before the Cybercab launch. For instance, only one-quarter believe that autonomous cars will help to enhance road safety in future. 44% don’t think autonomous driving will help reduce traffic jams or improve road safety, while 27% aren’t sure if it will benefit either of these areas – the same percentages as previously.

The UK government announced in the King’s speech the AV Act, which allows AV technology to be used on public roads, their expectation is that automated vehicles are expected to improve road safety by reducing human error, which contributes to 88% of road collisions.[2]

What technology are we comfortable with?

Although self-driving cars are still a new concept to many road users, vehicle technology has rapidly evolved, and drivers are adopting more autonomous features at varying levels. Dynamic cruise control is the most popular, with 39% of respondents using it to adjust their car’s speed while travelling. Lane assist follows closely in second, which 30% of respondents said they utilised.

Self-parking, arguably the closest feature to the technology of an autonomous vehicle, is used by only one in 10 (11%). Meanwhile, 44% of drivers stated that they don’t have any of these advanced features in their current car.

With the UK AV Act and planned launch of the Cybercab both happening in 2026, is this the beginning of the end for UK driving as we know it? Or are we a nation of car lovers, with little trust in technology which totally removes our control?

About the data

[1] Consumer opinions on autonomous vehicles were sourced through a Carwow Group survey of 1,536 website users on the following sites: Carwow, Auto Express, evo and Carbuyer. All statistics used in this release are sourced from this survey.

[2] As stated within the announcement Self-driving vehicles set to be on roads by 2026 as Automated Vehicles Act becomes law