Too much help? How far should driver assist go?
Half (50%) of Britons are concerned about future driver-assistance technologies taking too much control away from the driver.
This compares with just one in five (20%) who are unconcerned.
Around two-thirds of car-owning households now have vehicles with at least one driver-assist feature including things such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure detection, automatic emergency braking and automatic windscreen wipers.
However, the data from an Ipsos MORI survey for the RAC Foundation suggests that there is a limit to the level of automation people are willing to accept in the vehicles on our roads.
This is underlined by the relatively small proportion of the British public who believe we should be working towards fully-autonomous cars (24% v 42% who believe we should not).
The strongest support for a greater reliance on technology comes from drivers who already use it.
Nearly half (47%) of people who have cars with driver-assist features say they feel safer on the roads as a result, with only one in five (20%) disagreeing.
The results of the survey are being presented today [Wednesday] at the Driver Ahead conference – a joint RAC Foundation and IAM RoadSmart event looking at the future of vehicle automation and driver training.
