The chasm that seems so wide in our survey data, between how senior citizens relate to the idea of autonomous vehicles and the trust they would need to actually ride in one, had faded in an afternoon of education and personal experience. To be fair, The Villages is located in the heart of Silicon Valley and its residents may tend to be earlier adopters of technology than some others in their age demographic — but when listening to the engaging questions from this group, the myth that older Americans can’t understand or get used to new technologies simply doesn’t hold up. Like everyone else, these retirees may have had some anxiety about the abstract idea of vehicles we don’t control, but as soon as that idea became a concrete reality and an actual transportation option, they stopped worrying about far-fetched scenarios and began figuring out how to use a new tool.
Americans everywhere are still at the earliest stage of this process, and they understandably see AVs as a strange and alien presence defined only by science fiction or their generalized anxieties about rapid technological change. But they too will learn what the residents of The Villages have learned: that although AVs are brilliant and complex technological creations, they ultimately get you from point A to point B like any human driver would — and without the deadly consequences of human errors. If you wore a blindfold while riding an AV, you might not even know you weren’t being driven by a human… except that you would never have to ask to turn the radio down, or notice an untoward smell, or have to engage in unwanted small talk.
In fact, it seems that most Americans can already sense this on some level. In our poll, 60% of respondents said they would have greater trust in AVs if they understood better how the technology works, and 58% said that getting to ride an AV for themselves would have the same effect. Even among those aged 65 and up, over half of respondents agreed that education and firsthand experience would improve their trust in the technology.
This is exactly why I am so excited to be leading PAVE’s mission to educate Americans about this technology: the need is great, but we know what works. As our member companies bring autonomous mobility and logistics to the lives of more and more people, PAVE will be there to answer questions and facilitate first-time rides. Together we’ll learn, not simply to trust autonomous vehicles, but how to use them as a powerful tool to improve our lives.
May 19, 2020
