People's fear of self-driving cars has always puzzled me. After all, human error causes over a million traffic accidents each year, which makes it reasonable to be more afraid of traditional, human-driven vehicles. When you're driving, the car might drift out of its lane without warning, putting you in danger. In my view, unless we fully transition to autonomous vehicles, we should all feel some level of fear when behind the wheel.
Autonomous vehicles are clearly better drivers than humans. They don’t get distracted by family calls like my elderly parents, nor do they get sidetracked by teenage distractions like my son. With 360-degree awareness, they can accurately monitor speed, distance, and surroundings. Studies show that self-driving cars could reduce traffic fatalities by up to 99.9%, making them three orders of magnitude safer than today’s human-operated vehicles.
But despite these promises, many people are still hesitant. Why is that? And how can the industry address these fears?
Intel and Mobileye believe that trust must be built into the design of autonomous vehicles. This means thinking about how people interact with their cars and how to make that relationship more natural. If there's no steering wheel or brake pedal, and no driver at the front, how will passengers feel in control? How will the car explain its actions? How can we ensure safety?
To explore this, Intel recently conducted a small-scale study on the human-machine interface of self-driving cars. Some participants had their first experience riding in an autonomous vehicle. Although they were initially nervous, after the ride, they felt more comfortable and less fearful. They recognized that self-driving cars are far better at driving than most people. They also saw how this technology could help those who find it difficult to travel on their own.
Of course, we can’t convince everyone overnight. But through research, we’ve found ways to create a trusting experience that can be scaled. Professor Amnon Shashua introduced a responsibility-sensitive safety model for autonomous driving — a mathematical framework that helps design self-driving cars that are not only safe but also self-certifying.
In the end, social acceptance will determine when and how quickly self-driving cars become mainstream. Trust, technology, and regulation are the three pillars of autonomous driving. While we have the tech and the policies in place, public trust will ultimately decide the future of this industry.
We can build the safest cars possible, but if people don’t want to ride in them, the industry won’t move forward. It’s time for people to understand that riding in a self-driving car is not only safe, but potentially much safer than driving themselves every day.
Intel, Mobileye, regulators, and the entire autonomous driving community share the responsibility of building passenger trust. Our success depends on it.
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