Can We Guess If You'd Get in a Self-Driving Car?

By: Ian Fortey
Estimated Completion Time
4 min
Can We Guess If You'd Get in a Self-Driving Car?
Image: Wiki Commons by Don DeBold from San Jose, CA, USA

About This Quiz

Science fiction has been telling us for decades now that the future will be automated. Robot servants, artificial intelligence, and self-driving cars are going to be around every single corner, right? But as much as science fiction has prepared us for it, and as much as this has started happening over the last few decades in real life with automated assembly lines and little robots like Roombas, are we really ready for it? 

When progress takes a new leap forward, people get scared. When the internet first appeared, critics tore it apart. It was useless and it was a fad. No one would ever use it for anything like shopping, how absurd! When computers were first invented critics thought they might be helpful in the military or for industrial applications but why would anyone ever have one in their home? It was silly. When the telephone was invented, Western Union passed on the opportunity to invest, sure that the technology was all but useless. As a people, we love the idea of progress but many of us fear it when it shows up. Change is hard and weird and scary. Self-driving cars are no different.

Like it or not, self-driving cars are going to be a thing. The question is, are they going to be your thing? Let's find out!

When did you first hear about self-driving cars?
Years and years ago
When Google made some
Only in the last few months
A couple of years back

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Do you own a Roomba?
I sure do.
No, too expensive
What's a Roomba?
Nah, I can vacuum my own carpet.

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If you were alone in a self-driving car what would you do to pass the time anyway?
Watch a movie, read, anything!
Sleep
Catch up on work
Chat on the phone

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Does anything in your home operate on voice controls?
I have a few things.
My dog
No
Does Alexa count?

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Some people are afraid self-driving cars could spell doom for humanity. That said, what's your favorite movie about sinister cars?
"Maximum Overdrive"
"Duel"
"Christine"
"The Wraith"

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How long ago did you retire your VCR?
What's a VCR?
I can't even remember.
I still use one!
Years and years ago

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Do you feel like artificial intelligence is going to destroy the world?
Not really
It could be dangerous.
Yes
I hope not!

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Do you get frustrated by other drivers?
Sometimes
Not really
All the time
If they're being jerks.

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Have you ever been pulled over for speeding?
Nope
So far so lucky
Yes
Never been pulled over, no

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How many parking tickets have you racked up in your life?
None
Just one
Dozens
A handful

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Self-driving cars have existed in sci-fi forever. What's your favorite sci-fi car?
KITT from "Knight Rider"
Bumblebee from "Transformers"
The V8 Interceptor in "Mad Max"
The DeLorean from "Back to the Future"

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What's your favorite robot in film history?
R2-D2
Wall-E
Robocop
The Terminator

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Do you ever take a drive just for the sake of driving?
Not really
Once in a while
All the time
Seems like a waste of gas

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What's going to make you take a second look at a car?
Fuel economy
The price
Performance
The features

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Do you like a lot of modern gadgets in your car or not?
I love new car tech.
Some of it can be really useful.
It's too complicated.
Not all of it

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Has GPS ever gotten you out of a jam?
All the time
Yes, it's super helpful.
Got me into one
I don't use it that much.

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Have you ever used an in-vehicle service like OnStar before?
I use mine all the time.
Only in a friend's car
Never
I haven't had much need for it.

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The color of a car is not important at all. That said, what color do you like your cars to be?
Blue
Black
Silver
Red

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Do you believe self-driving cars are statistically safer than cars driven by humans?
Stats don't lie.
I'd have to see the info for myself.
Not for a second
Yeah, I'd believe that. People suck at driving.

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What would be your main fear regarding a self-driving car?
A computer glitch
Hackers
I'm not in control.
That it looks like crap.

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What do you think would be the greatest benefit of a self-driving car?
Extra time to do things
Naps
Hopefully, it always knows where it's going.
You'd definitely get some attention.

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Self-driving technology is still pretty new, but do you think it's the way of the future?
No doubt
Some day, probably
It'll never be more popular than normal driving.
Until something cooler comes along

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Weren't we promised flying cars?
I'm still waiting for mine!
I hope no one makes those.
That's an even worse idea.
That's probably a few more years off.

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Let's say you had a self-driving car and it was run by a life-like A.I.. Would you name it?
Something fun like Threepio
Shouldn't it come with a name?
Who names a computer?
Seems legit. I'd call it Neo.

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If self-driving cars prove themselves what would you think of a self-flying plane?
Yes!
That sounds very scary.
Oh, hell no.
I mean sure, if it works.

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If self-driving cars become standard do you think people will even need to learn how to drive anymore?
Why bother?
That's a good question.
They better, just in case.
Maybe it'll be like driving standard and only some people will know how.

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If you had to guess, what percentage of current car accidents would you say are caused by driver error?
80%
I'd have to look it up.
Maybe 30 or 40%
At least 50%

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Would there still be traffic jams with self-driving cars?
Far less, probably
I imagine they'd make a few kinds of jams less prominent.
Why wouldn't there be?
I have no idea.

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What would be the most interesting consequence of self-driving cars, in your opinion?
The disabled would have a lot more freedom to go places.
Fuel emissions would decrease by a lot.
All kinds of people like cab drivers would lose their jobs
Police would be issuing way fewer speeding tickets

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Which decade made the best cars ever?
The current decade
The '80s
The '50s
The '60s

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You Got: