AMERICANS FEAR POTENTIAL HACKING OF AUTONOMOUS CARS

According to a poll of 1,000 Americans, the biggest fear for our self-driving future is the possibility of hacking autonomous cars. 

Autonomous cars are slowly creeping into the American car industry, but it will still be a while before they hit the roads – at least, without a driver. 

People have a few common fears when it comes to autonomous cars – controls messing up, not being able to detect the roadway and, ultimately, crashing as a result. 

But after polling 1,000 people, a study found that what Americans are most scared of when it comes to autonomous cars is getting hacked.

The poll indicated that almost 75% of the people involved said hacking was their biggest concern when it came to driverless cars. This is quite easy to understand when you remember the infamous hacking of Jeep that hit headlines a few years ago, as well as a scene from "Fast and Furious 8: The Fate of the Furious" where a hacker took control of thousands of cars in New York. Of course, the latter is fiction – at least we hope. 

According to an Automotive News story about the polling, the study shows that Americans do not expect driverless cars to hit the roads within the next 20 years. And even if they do, a different study showed that most Americans wouldn't even buy a fully autonomous car.

This may be the case right now, but price-conscious consumers may be swayed by the lower insurance premiums that autonomous cars will bring. 

It's unclear as to when driverless cars will actually hit the market, but we'll have to see if people change their minds at the time – or if they have a choice at all.