Megan Stewart
April 28, 2016

According to the J.D. Power 2016 U.S. Tech Choice Study, younger drivers are more trusting in autonomous technology, which is helping pave the way for these vehicles to actually make it to the road.

Many current vehicles already implement adaptive cruise control, lane change assist, smart headlights, and other features that help make the move to fully autonomous vehicles that much easier. The study showed that over half of Gen Y and Gen Z drivers trusted an autonomous vehicle, while only 41 percent of Gen X and 23 percent of Baby Boomers felt the same.

One thing all generations can agree on is safety and the ability for these cars to protect against hacking. “The level of trust is directly linked to the level of interest in a new technology among automobile buyers,” said Kristin Kolodge, J.D. Power executive director of driver interaction and HMI research, in a statement. “Acceptance can be increased with exposure over time and experience with automated technologies. But trust is fragile and can be broken if there is an excessive number of incidents with automated vehicles.”

While the majority of young car buyers trust autonomous vehicles, 18 percent of Gen Y and 11 percent of Gen Z buyers “definitely would not” trust the technology. Only 27 percent of Gen X and 39 percent of Baby Boomers would also not put their trust in autonomous cars.

This study comes on the heels of AAA’s report that showed that three out of four American drivers were “afraid” of the technology. That study showed that while autonomous features were desirable, only one in five Americans actually trust a vehicle to pilot itself.