Researchers at the University of Central Florida have discovered that autonomous vehicles are less likely to be involved in collisions than human-driven automobiles.
Even though the research largely demonstrated that self-driving cars are safer, it did find that in certain circumstances, they appear to be more likely to be involved in accidents.
They were over five times more likely to be involved in an accident than a human-driven automobile in low light at dawn or twilight.
Self-driving cars were almost twice as likely to be involved in an accident when turning.
A car in self-driving mode struck a police cruiser in California last week as cops were responding to a fatal collision. There have been other high-profile crashes involving self-driving cars.
Following the passage of a new law in May, self-driving cars may be present on UK roads by 2026.
According to the Department for Transport, “reducing human error, which contributes to 88% of road collisions” is how the law aims to increase road safety and create jobs.
In an Institute of Mechanical Engineers poll conducted in the UK last year, seven out of ten respondents stated they would be uncomfortable traveling in an autonomous vehicle without human supervision.
