Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a report documenting crashes involving cars with automated driving components. The report looked at data on Automated Driving Systems (commonly referred to as "self-driving cars") and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (cars equipped with lane-keeping technology and adaptive cruise control, such as Tesla's Autopilot). The New York Times covered the report's release. A quick scroll through Twitter showed that the public divided: Is this technology something to praise, or something to fear? Ultimately, the NHTSA report, while an essential first step, doesn't leave a clear picture whether self-driving cars will prevent crashes when they arrive in the future.

Advanced driver assistance systems, or ADAS, have become standard in many vehicles on the market today. Features like adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, and blind-spot alarms have given rise to the next generation of safe driving experiences. Consumers are embracing the technology--58% want to see high-performing ADAS features in their vehicles. But people are far from convinced that even with current ADAS technology, safe, autonomous driving is a reality. According to Forbes, 86% of people interviewed in a AAA survey said they would be afraid to ride in a self-driving vehicle (54%) or are unsure about it (32%).

In the past year, many of the conversations around autonomous vehicles (AVs) have been dominated by the same question: When will self-driving cars be the norm on public roads? While industry leaders talked a big game on AVs monopolizing our roads back in 2016, today some experts have put widespread Level 4 adoption over a decade away. However, even that timeline only works if automakers overcome significant barriers -- both technical and behavioral. The challenge of bringing AVs to consumers will be tougher than anticipated, with a central part of the effort being focused on earning the public's trust. Consumer confidence and mass adoption of AVs go hand in hand.

While much of the media attention around autonomous vehicle technology has been focused on fully self-driving cars, consumers shouldn't expect cars to act like chauffeurs any time soon. The vast majority of mainstream vehicles adopting autonomous driving features will be controlled by advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) or "guardian angels" that learn over time, Gil Pratt, CEO Toyota Research Institute, told reporters and analysts last week. Speaking at the New England Motor Press Association Technology Conference at MIT, Pratt said that 30,000 motor vehicle fatalities occur in the U.S. each year. That number may seem high, but as a whole, U.S. drivers are excellent at avoiding crashes. So, instead of taking the wheel from drivers' hands, as a fully autonomous vehicle would do, auto makers are more focused on assisting drivers for years to come.