In its latest Gauge Index survey, Hankook Tire says it found that, despite a decade of automotive innovation, one element of driving still leaves something to be desired – drivers’ attitudes.
Hankook says while 86% of Americans say they are better drivers today than they were 10 years ago, most don’t think that makes them nicer on the road: Hankook found that almost two in three (63%) say driver etiquette has worsened over the last decade.
In addition, the Gauge revealed that 55% of Americans think roads are not as safe as they were 10 years ago – despite the fact that 86% say they are a better driver today. While many might jump to the conclusion that cell phones are to blame, 54% say that mobile devices and rideshare culture, a byproduct of those devices, have actually had the least impact on their driving this decade. Drivers point instead to gas prices (35%) and road congestion (26%) as the most impactful factors.
If there’s one thing drivers can certainly expect in the decade to come, it’s that innovation will leave its mark on multiple areas of the automotive industry. Seventy-two percent of drivers expect that electric or self-driving vehicle technology will be the most widely used automotive innovation by the end of the 2020s.
Drivers also expect those same technologies to see the most development in the next 10 years. Hankook found that nearly half (49%) of Americans anticipate that self-driving and electric vehicle innovation will improve the most this coming decade. In third place came driver assistance technology, such as lane-keeping assist and automatic parallel parking (23%), further underscoring the growing expectation that technology will to continue to impact the experience behind the wheel.
However, drivers’ visions for the future aren’t necessarily filled with the flying cars of yesteryear’s cartoons. Only 8% of Americans expect to see hovercars come to life anytime soon.
The Hankook Tire Gauge Index is a quarterly survey of Americans’ attitudes and opinions. The latest installment of the survey, conducted Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 2019, polled 1,302 randomly selected Americans.
