--- description: For driverless cars to hit the mainstream, automakers will have to convince consumers they're as safe than human-driven vehicles. title: How Driverless Cars Will Sneak Up On Us All image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8f58a1a3060ebf9/69877d63cd68480cbe0997e8/152766339.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Driverless Cars Will Sneak Up on Us All  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 3, 2015 7:05 PM CUT  A Google self-driving car is displayed at the Google headquarters on September 25, 2012 in Mountain View, California. A Google self-driving car is displayed at the Google headquarters on September 25, 2012 in Mountain View, California.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 3, 2015 7:05 PM CUT The [news](http://time.com/3693222/uber-carnegie-mellon-driverless-taxis/ "undefined") that car-hailing company Uber is opening up a research facility to work on driverless cars foretells one of many possible automotive futures: A world in which personal car ownership is made obsolete by city-roaming fleets of autonomous cars waiting for you to ask them to come pick you up. That particular future might never arrive. While major automakers and tech companies like Audi, Google and now Uber are [hard at work perfecting autonomous cars](http://time.com/3668760/the-future-of-driving/ "undefined"), they have [well-documented challenges](http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/22/6828161/california-permits-self-driving-cars-google-audi-mercedes-benz "undefined") in the form of technology and policy. But there’s another speedbump ahead, too: Convincing people to let a computer take control when they’re screaming down the interstate at 70 miles per hour. In an early 2014 [study](http://www.cnbc.com/id/101386129 "undefined") by research firm Harris Interactive, only 12% of respondents said they were ready to say, “HAL, take the wheel!” For driverless cars to go mainstream, the companies working on them will have to convince consumers they’re as safe (or safer) than human-driven vehicles. The trick here lies in a gradual rollout. Semi-autonomous features like park assist or collision avoidance are already popping up in cars on the road today, marketed as convenience- or safety-boosting tools. (Such technology also helps manufacturers drive prices up.) That’s already gotten drivers slightly more comfortable with the idea that cars can do some driving themselves. Once those features become more widely available, it’ll mean that when cars start asking to do a little more—say, take control in a highway carpool lane—drivers will be more likely to let their car become a chauffeur. ### Check Out the Coolest Cars From the 2015 Detroit Auto Show  Acura introduces the new NSX at the (NAIAS) on January 12, 2015 in Detroit. Scott Olson—Getty Images  The Mercedes-Benz F 015 Coupe is presented during the media preview at the Cobo Arena on Jan. 12, 2015 in Detroit. Uli Deck—dpa/Corbis  Smart shows off their Electric Drive Coupe during the media preview on Jan. 13, 2015 in Detroit. Scott Olson—Getty Images  Chevrolet unveils a new concept car bolt during a press preview on Jan. 12, 2015 in Detroit. Bao Dandan—Xinhua Press/Corbis  The Infinity Q60 concept car is displayed during the press preview on Jan. 13, 2015 in Detroit. Jewel Samad—AFP/Getty Images  Ford Motor Co., Executive Chairman Bill Ford, left, and President and COO Mark Fields stand next to the new Ford GT on Jan. 12, 2015 in Detroit. Carlos Osorio—AP  The Honda Motor Co. UNI-CUB B personal mobility device is demonstrated on Jan. 13, 2015 in Detroit. Bloomberg/Getty Images  Toyota shows off their FT-1 concept car during the media preview on Jan. 13, 2015 in Detroit. Scott Olson—Getty Images  The Bentley GT Speed Convertible is displayed at the Mercedes exhibit on Jan. 13, 2015 in Detroit. Bill Pugliano—Getty Images  Harkening back to the Sixties, the Touring Carrozzeria explores the idea of an Italian Barchetta merged with a British sports car in the MINI Superleggera Vision. Jan. 12, 2015 in Detroit. Car Culture/Corbis  Lexus unveils its 2016 GS F during a press preview on Jan. 13, 2015 in Detroit. Bao Dandan—Xinhua Press/Corbis  Scheduled for release in 2016, the Infiniti Q60 Coupe will have a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 in a stunning aluminum body on Jan. 12, 2015 in Detroit. Car Culture/Corbis  Acura introduces the new NSX on Jan. 12, 2015 in Detroit. Scott Olson—Getty Images What’s unclear here is what happens to automakers when one of them (or someone else) finally starts selling driverless cars. Audi, BMW, Ford and the rest would presumably prefer a world where millions of people still buy _their_ cars. They don’t care if the cars are being driven by a computer instead of a person so long as they’re selling lots of them. But the hypothetical autonomous Uber future clashes with that: Why should people bother buying a car when they can hail a self-driving car to their doorstep whenever they need one? In that world, Uber would still need to buy lots of cars, but it would probably be nowhere near the number consumers are buying today. That’s the fascinating irony of automated cars: There’s a chance that, in building them, automakers could be innovating themselves into obsolescence. That explains why car companies are doing things like [building Silicon Valley research labs](http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/26/ford-silicon-valley-lab/ "undefined"): Their best hope might be beating Uber at its own game by supplying both the driverless cars and the software platform on which they’ll run. Thankfully for the automakers, they have plenty of time to figure things out before we’re all zipping around in cars without steering wheels. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3693637/driverless-cars-prediction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3693637/driverless-cars-prediction/"},"headline":"How Driverless Cars Will Sneak Up on Us All","datePublished":"2015-02-03T19:05:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:45:15.410Z","description":"Our cars will gradually start doing more of the driving themselves — until they do all of it","url":"https://time.com/3693637/driverless-cars-prediction/","keywords":["Tech","Google","Autos","Uber","driverless cars"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8f58a1a3060ebf9/69877d63cd68480cbe0997e8/152766339.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Fitzpatrick","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8f58a1a3060ebf9/69877d63cd68480cbe0997e8/152766339.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Gov. 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