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Surveys suggest that many Americans are distrusting of fully autonomous vehicles. But Andrew Fung, a senior analyst at the Progressive Policy Institute who is focused on economics and technology, says that is likely to change, and that it’s likely to change very quickly.
He referenced a study that found a 45 percentage point shift in public opinion in San Francisco between 2023 and 2025. San Francisco, like Las Vegas, has been a hub of AV testing.
“It seems like when people get their hands on these cars and can actually experience them and what they’re like, they’re generally very positive of them,” said Fung. “When they think about them as kind of an abstract thing, the sentiment is much less positive.”
Those findings could serve as a warning to state lawmakers: Get ahead of statutory and regulatory issues around safety, taxation and legal liability now because trying to do so after rapid adoption will be far more difficult.
“I would recommend legislators not take their eye off the ball,” Fung said. “Think about how to get ahead of the issues. How do we set ourselves up for success, so that you’re not chasing behind after the rollout comes?”
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