Self Driving Cars: The Importance of Geography

Self-driving cars may soon be a reality. Alphabet Inc. GOOG and Tesla Motors Inc. TSLA lead the way in developing and testing these innovative products and many analysts expect self-driving cars will be in demand if and when they are approved for public use. However, after a report from Statista, we see that geography plays a major role in determining consumer sediment regarding self-driving cars.

Niall McCarthy a contributor to Statista wrote, “A survey carried out by the World Economic Forum in conjunction with the Boston Consulting Group has revealed that developing nations are most eager to try self-driving cars. 85 percent of people in India and 75 percent of Chinese respondents said they were very likely or likely to try one. People in Germany and Japan were far less enthusiastic. Interestingly, while 58 percent of global respondents stated they would try a driverless car, only 35 percent would let their children ride alone in one.”

This survey shows the effect of culture and geography on a person's opinions regarding self-driving cars. One of the primary benefits of self-driving cars is that there is expected to be a reduction in traffic and less need for parking lots if the concept gets adopted by the mainstream population. This would definitely benefit the congested cities of China and India. However in countries such as Germany and the United States where the importance of driving is very much ingrained into their culture we see less of a desire for self-driving cars. Overall only time will tell how popular the concept becomes and whether it increases the safety of transportation.

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