- Study finds that most people in Britain would not buy a new driverless vehicle
- Three quarters of participants also said they were not confident they were sage
- Comes as Government announced plans to invest in electric car charging points
Almost two thirds of motorists said they would not buy a driverless car despite plans to make the UK a world centre for the autonomous vehicles, a study suggests.
It comes after Philip Hammond announced in November plans to invest hundreds of millions of pounds to upgrade electric car charging facilities — which would speed up the proliferation of driverless cars.
But research conducted for The Times also found that one third of people would not pay extra for a driverless car.
Three quarters added they were not confident that driverless cars were safe and that being hacked was the most significant worry.
The study showed that almost two thirds of motorists said they would not buy a driverless cars despite plans to make the UK a world centre for the autonomous vehicles
![It comes after Philip Hammond announced in November plans to invest hundreds of millions of pounds to upgrade electric car charging facilities — which would speed up the proliferation of driverless cars](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2018/01/01/12/05B95E75000003E8-5226161-image-a-2_1514809837512.jpg)
It comes after Philip Hammond announced in November plans to invest hundreds of millions of pounds to upgrade electric car charging facilities — which would speed up the proliferation of driverless cars
The study also found that the public doubts the benefits of the cars and suspects industry motives.
Two thirds said they thought that driverless cars would be bad for society and the majority said they were worried about implications for jobs.
More than half of those who took part said they thought carmakers were investing in the new technology out of greed and 60 per cent added that they were not doing enough to make the cars safe.
It comes after a Florida man was killed when the autopilot on his Tesla car failed to spot a lorry that was the same colour as the sky in 2016.
Christian Wolmar, a transport analyst, told The Times: ‘There is no demand for driverless cars, they are not something we need or want. The whole concept that we will end up with shared electric pods that will take us anywhere ignores the day-to-day experience of most people.
‘That kind of transport might be all very well for central London but if you live five miles out of Woking you will not have a driverless pod waiting to pick you up. Even if there was one nearby, your neighbours might have taken it and you will have to wait half an hour for another to poodle along.’
![Two thirds said they thought that driverless cars would be bad for society and the majority said they were worried about implications for jobs](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2018/01/01/12/47AD02B300000578-5226161-image-a-3_1514809839975.jpg)
Two thirds said they thought that driverless cars would be bad for society and the majority said they were worried about implications for jobs
‘There are so many examples of dead transport ideas because the technology doesn’t work, at least not at the right price and there is not the infrastructure in place. The government would do much better to invest in basic technology like improving the railways or making busses more efficient than spending on a concept that is completely unproven and I think unworkable.’
Critics have also questioned how driverless cars could cope with rain, uneven road markings or traffic jams.
They add that the basic question of how driverless vehicles would tell traffic from a line of parked cars has yet to be adequately explained.