---
title: "Just 19 Percent of Americans Trust Self-Driving Cars With Kids"
description: "A new survey by AAA shows that most Americans distrust self-driving cars. In the past two years, public trust in the emerging technology has gone down."
date: "2019-03-15"
modified: "2019-03-15"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/americans-trust-self-driving-cars"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Self-Driving Vehicles"
tags:
  - "advanced transport"
  - "Autonomous vehicles"
  - "tesla"
  - "Uber"
  - "waymo"
---

# Just 19 Percent of Americans Trust Self-Driving Cars With Kids

![A new survey by AAA shows that most Americans distrust self-driving cars. In the past two years, public trust in the emerging technology has gone down.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/americans-trust-self-driving-cars.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Vigan Hajdari via Pixabay/Tag Hartman-Simkins\</em\>*

## Poor Turnout

While tech companies like Waymo, Uber, and Tesla race to be the first to build a fully-autonomous vehicle, the public is [left eating their dust](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/teens-self-driving-cars>).

About 71 percent of Americans say that they don't trust self-driving cars, according to a new American Automobile Association (AAA) survey. That's roughly the same percentage as last year's survey, but it's eight points higher than in 2017, [according to ](<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-14/americans-still-fear-self-driving-cars>)*[Bloomberg](<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-14/americans-still-fear-self-driving-cars>) —* and just 19 percent say they'd put their children or family members into an autonomous vehicle.

Overall, the data is a striking sign of public fatigue with self-driving cars.

## Track Record

Autonomous vehicles, unlike some other emerging technologies, have suffered [very public setbacks](<https://futurism.com/waymo-safety-data-trust-numbers>), including when an Uber vehicle [struck and killed a pedestrian](<https://futurism.com/self-driving-fatality-preventable-uber>) a year ago.

"It's possible that the sustained level of fear is rooted in a heightened focus, whether good or bad, on incidents involving these types of vehicles," said AAA director of automotive engineering Greg Brannon in a statement obtained by *Bloomberg*. "Also it could simply be due to a fear of the unknown."

## Uphill Battle

The AAA survey found that Americans are more accepting of autonomous vehicle tech in limited-use cases. For example, 53 percent of survey respondents were okay with self-driving trams or shuttles being used in areas like theme parks, while 44 percent accepted the idea of autonomous food-delivery bots.

Self-driving car companies are currently engaging in public relations efforts to earn people's trust, *Bloomberg* reports. But if these AAA numbers are any indication, there's a long way to go.

**READ MORE:** [Americans Still Fear Self-Driving Cars](<https://www.bloomberg.com/hyperdrive>) \[*Bloomberg*\]

**More on autonomous vehicles:** *[Exclusive: A Waymo One Rider’s Experiences Highlight Autonomous Rideshare’s Shortcomings](<https://futurism.com/waymo-one-early-rider-autonomous-vehicle>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)