In just a few years’ time, self-driving cars will be a normal sight on roads. Respondents’ main hope is that automated driving will mean more comfort and significantly less stress behind the wheel. The car of the future – which will completely relieve drivers of the need to steer, operate the gas pedal, and brake – is primarily seen as something useful for long distances (67 per cent) and leisure travel (61 per cent).
The majority of those surveyed expect a significant increase in terms of convenience (68 per cent) and safety (60 per cent) in many everyday situations such as searching for parking in cities. The survey also reveals an interesting ranking of the most desirable automated driving functions: parking was named particularly frequently (65 per cent), as were the automated search for parking in downtown areas (60 per cent) and stress-free navigation of traffic jams (59 per cent).
For the survey on automated driving, Bosch asked roughly 6,000 licensed drivers in six countries: Brazil, China, Germany, France, Japan, and the US. Per country, 1,000 people aged 16 and up took part in the survey. Participants were selected on the basis of criteria defined by Bosch and Lightspeed Research.