Dec 16, 2013

The latest mobility study by Continental shows that many car drivers find this an attractive proposition

Traffic jams, commuter traffic, roadwork, too little available parking - more and more people find it very stressful to deal with day-to-day traffic. This explains why they are so open-minded about automated driving. Texting, making calls, checking emails, or simply letting your mind wander while the car safely brings you to your destination - it all sounds so appealing to many motorists.

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76 percent of those surveyed were in favor of automated driving on long journeys, 70 percent would use it in traffic jams on the freeway, 39 percent in city driving, 36 percent for interurban driving on regular highways, and 27 percent for their daily runs. These findings came to light in the "Mobility Study 2013" recently published by Continental, one of the world's leading automotive suppliers. As part of the study, the market research institute infas spoke to 1,000 motorists in Germany, the U.S., Japan, and China, and 200 in France, India, and Brazil, in addition to traffic psychologists, lawyers, and experts in the automotive industry.

When asked about their individual intentions for using the technology, German drivers specified they would like to be driven through roadwork on the freeway (69 percent) and traffic jams (54 percent). They would also like to have their cars park on their own in parking garages (46 percent). "These needs are match up perfectly with the development possibilities in the upcoming years. This is because partially automated vehicles will begin by gaining the ability to navigate through roadwork and traffic jams on the freeway. Next in line will be automated parking in parking garages," says Dr. Elmar Degenhart, chairman of the Continental Executive Board.

Prof. Andreas Rößler from the Information Technology faculty at Esslingen University also confirms the trend to partially and fully automatic driving. "Intensified use of advanced electronic driver assist systems will increase traffic safety. I am convinced that this trend to fully automated driving will continue. Automated cars will enhance traffic flow, resulting in fewer traffic jams. This will make traffic safer in the future, as the human uncertainty factor no longer applies. Human error is, after all, responsible for more than 90 percent of all accidents," underscores the head of the Fraunhofer Application Center for energy and information technology mobility interfaces (KEIM).

An alarming fact: According to the Continental study, more than half of the German car drivers surveyed (59 percent) had already been involved in an accident. The most common kind of accident was a rear-end collision (44 per cent). "Emergency brake assist systems are available for all vehicle classes. They can prevent many cases of rear-end collisions. Initial discounts from insurers for vehicles equipped with emergency brake assist systems mean that in the future these systems will find their way into all vehicle classes," says Continental board member Frank Jourdan.

Continental is expecting automated driving to considerably reduce the number of traffic casualties. The aim is to gradually automate all cars by 2025. As of 2016, partially automated systems may therefore be assisting drivers in "stop & go" situations on the freeway at speeds of up to 30 km/h. In 2012, Continental was the first automotive supplier in the world to obtain a test license for automated driving on public roads in the U.S. state of Nevada.

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