Self-Driving Cars - Too Much or Too Little Trust?

Trust thought for today - about too much or too little trust.

I was on a panel at a European conference on Connected & Automated Driving.

It was great that most of the session was focused on trustworthiness of and trust in the tech and the governance. First I took a poke at the whole concept and tried to point out the importance of anchoring the debate in mobility solutions which also build community & embed sustainablity, rather than upholding incumbent models of individual transport. Then we got down to the trust stuff. Which of course I was full on for trustworthy governance front and centre.

But to be contradictory - the assumption always with self-driving cars is that we in Europe are all too nervous and will be very resistant so manufacturers and regulators need to try really hard to earn trust in the tech and the governance. Much as I would like it to be like that, I wonder. I suspect many of us will be more like the American Tesla drivers than many people think. As with other areas of tech, we will swallow the hype, mentally gloss over any risks and buy them because basically they are cool and frankly, We Want One! Let's hope the BMW, Toyota and other more responsible car makers save us from ourselves and take the trustworthiness points seriously!