A new Pew Research Center survey finds that while autonomous vehicles are becoming more common across California, most Americans remain hesitant to ride in a driverless car.
Driverless vehicles are no longer a futuristic concept reserved for technology demonstrations. Across parts of California, autonomous cars have become an increasingly familiar sight, quietly transporting passengers through busy city streets without anyone behind the wheel.
Yet despite the rapid expansion of robotaxi services, public acceptance has not kept pace.
A recent Pew Research Center survey found that only 5% of U.S. adults say they have ever ridden in a driverless car. More striking, however, is that 71% of Americans say they would feel not too comfortable or not at all comfortable riding in one, underscoring a persistent trust gap between technological progress and consumer confidence.
The findings suggest that while autonomous vehicles are becoming more visible, they remain unfamiliar to most people.
California Leads the Rollout, but Adoption Remains Limited
California has become the nation’s largest testing ground for autonomous transportation, with companies expanding commercial robotaxi operations in cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Even in Los Angeles County, where residents have greater exposure to the technology, adoption remains relatively modest. A 2026 USC LABarometer survey found that about 5% of residents reported riding in a driverless vehicle during the previous year, a figure similar to the national average.
That suggests widespread visibility does not necessarily translate into widespread use.
Experience Changes Perceptions
One of the clearest patterns emerging from recent research is that people who have actually ridden in a driverless vehicle tend to express greater confidence in the technology.
According to Pew, individuals with firsthand experience are substantially more likely to say they would feel comfortable taking another autonomous ride than those who have never tried one.
The findings point to a familiar challenge for emerging technologies: skepticism often declines once consumers gain direct experience.
Trust Remains the Biggest Obstacle
Public concerns extend beyond the novelty of autonomous vehicles.
Many Americans continue to question how driverless systems respond to unpredictable road conditions, pedestrians, cyclists, construction zones, and emergency situations. Highly publicized crashes involving autonomous vehicles have also contributed to caution, even as developers argue that the technology continues to improve through extensive real-world testing.
Transportation experts note that building public trust may ultimately prove just as important as advancing the software itself.
What About Latino Communities?
Although Latinos make up a significant share of California’s population and many live in metropolitan areas where autonomous vehicles are operating, no major public survey has yet released data showing how frequently Latino adults specifically use driverless ride services.
That means there is currently no reliable estimate of robotaxi adoption among Hispanic or Latino consumers.
As autonomous transportation expands, understanding how different communities perceive and adopt the technology may become increasingly important for policymakers and companies alike.
The Road Ahead
The rollout of driverless transportation is accelerating, particularly in California. But the latest surveys indicate that public opinion has yet to catch up.
For now, autonomous vehicles remain a technology that many Americans see on the road—but relatively few have experienced firsthand.
Whether broader acceptance follows may depend less on engineering breakthroughs than on something much harder to earn: public trust.
