Do Europeans trust driverless cars?

Around one in three believe that driverless cars will emerge to be the major form of transport across Europe during the next decade.

Research from Gemalto, a €3.1bn digital security company, put questions to participants in Russia, the UK, France and Germany, and found that 27 percent wouldn’t trust a driverless car to complete a journey at all, with almost half fearing that cyber criminals could hack into the car computer and cause accidents.

Christine Caviglioli, SVP for Automotive & Mobility Services, Gemalto, commented: “Digitalisation is putting the automotive industry on the road to revolution. The Internet of Things (IoT) and cutting edge connected car technology is opening the door to intelligent telematics and is unleashing a new breed of features and services - everything from enhanced in-car services and car sharing to fully autonomous vehicles. It’s a profound paradigm shift, the likes of which haven’t been seen in the industry since the introduction of the first motorized vehicles in the early 1900s. The technology has the potential to change the concept of driving forever.”

However, she acknowledges the concerns presented by potential consumers of these new forms of transport. There is a fine balance to be struck between security and user experience – one which manufacturers and tech companies must get right.

Caviglioli continued: “The research makes it clear that for connected vehicles and mobility services to deliver on their promises, automotive and mobility players will have to build trust in the ecosystem and reassure drivers. This means they have to partner with the right technology providers to implement robust security measures.

“Security is of course crucial, but so is the user experience. Building complex and time-consuming processes could prevent connected car apps from becoming mainstream. Designing user-friendly and real-time mobility solutions is therefore key to enable car connectivity, authenticate users and bring drivers’ preferences on board with personalized and seamless user experiences.”