Most Americans have some concerns that self-driving cars can be hacked to cause crashes, disable the vehicle in some way, or even be used as weapons by terrorists, according to researchers Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle of the U-M Transportation Research Institute. And large percentages of people are at least slightly concerned that these kinds of vehicles can be hacked to gain access to personal data. However, more than half have these same cybersecurity concerns about conventional vehicles, say Sivak and Schoettle. Using an online survey of more than 500 Americans, the researchers asked respondents how concerned they are about hackers gaining access to personally owned self-driving (both with control over the gas pedal, brake and steering, and without) and conventional vehicles.
