Neophobia, the fear or avoidance of anything new or unfamiliar, is a phenomenon observed across various species, including humans. From an evolutionary perspective, neophobia can be understood as an adaptive mechanism that has likely played a significant role in survival. For example, when it comes to food acquisition, new foods may contain toxins or pathogens, posing a threat to survival. By exhibiting neophobia, organisms are less likely to ingest harmful substances. Instead, they may slowly consume new foods in small amounts until they are proven to be safe. This “better safe than sorry” approach minimizes the risk of poisoning, even if it means occasionally rejecting a safe food source. Likewise, the fear of strangers can lead to avoidance of potentially dangerous individuals until there is information to the contrary.

Several recent studies looking at millions of miles driven have found that self-driving (or more specifically supervised self-driving) vehicles were significantly less likely to be involved in crashes compared to human drivers. While the data are fairly clear, individuals still fear using existing supervised self-driving systems in vehicles and that will result in individuals not utilizing technology that would significantly decrease their chance of accidents and the consequent injuries and potential fatalities. This includes striking pedestrians as well.

Indeed, fully autonomous taxis are currently in operation and performing quite well. A recent study of these vehicles showed that human drivers are more likely to crash, cause crashes, and injure others than fully autonomous vehicles. Clearly, it is reasonable to project that the supervised self-driving cars available to the general public can reduce crashes compared to human drivers and as a result reduce injuries and fatalities.

The fearful reaction to self-driving cars demonstrates that neophobia is alive and well in the human brain. For example, Automobile Association of America’s (AAA) annual vehicle survey consistently shows a high level of fear or uncertainty towards fully self-driving vehicles. In their latest survey (March 2024), 66% of U.S. drivers expressed fear, 25% were uncertain about fully self-driving vehicles. Only 9% trust self-driving vehicles. For more on this see here.

The mismatch between actual danger and perceived danger is especially true of “novel” stimuli (as noted above) which tend to be associated with fear given the lack of experience (familiarity) people have “disconfirming” the concerns that underly the emotional response. Certainly a self-driving car would fall into this category where an individual’s fear is triggered by a feeling of being out of control (not because it is out of control, but because the driver is not technically “controlling” it — or in the case of passengers — a human is not controlling it). The illogical thoughts about the danger of the SD (as judged by the actual facts) lead to increased fear which leads to avoidance which does not allow for “disconfirming” the fear through actual experience (exposure) to the stimulus (SD technology). Ultimately, the exposure — while having accurate thoughts about the situation — is necessary to overcome the fear.

The following are some common fear-producing processes emanating from neophobia:

• Safety concerns: Accidents involving self-driving cars, even if rare, receive significant media attention, raising concerns about the technology’s reliability. The media demonstrates neophobia as well!
• Lack of control: Many people are uncomfortable with the idea of relinquishing control to a machine, especially when their safety is at stake, despite the data supporting the increased safety.
• Uncertainty about the technology: Many people don’t fully understand how self-driving cars work, leading to distrust and fear.

The good news is there is a proven effective way to reduce phobias. The best solution to decrease fear of self-driving cars is to use the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT is the most evidence-based treatment for phobia. The treatment of phobias has a very long history in psychology. There is no reason to expect that the CBT protocol for specific phobias would not be effective for fear of supervised self-driving cars. A free self-guided manual, Overcome the Fear of Operating a Self-Driving Vehicle, can facilitate the adjustment to this new, beneficial stimulus!