Driverless taxis: Almost half of Brits wouldn’t feel safe to hop in driverless taxis as they launch in London
Getting locked in, malfunctions and safety remain the top passenger concerns as autonomous taxis begin operating in London today
As driverless taxis launch in London today, research from earlier this year by Go.Compare Car Insurance reveals how the nation feels about riding in an autonomous taxi – and not everyone is excited at the prospect.
Research from Go.Compare car insurance reveals that Brits have a number of concerns:*
- 46% of those surveyed said they would not feel safe using a driverless Uber
- A further 38% would be worried about the car malfunctioning or locking them in
- 32% said they wouldn't use a driverless Uber because they don’t want human drivers to be replaced
Meanwhile, 12% of people said they’re excited to use a driverless taxi, and just 6% of people have no safety concerns at all.
The research also revealed that there’s a big gender difference when it comes to opinions on driverless taxis, with over half (54%) of women saying they wouldn’t feel safe using an autonomous Uber compared to 39% of men, and 43% of women saying they’re worried about the car malfunctioning or being locked in, compared to 32% of men.
Tom Banks, spokesperson for Go.Compare Car Insurance, said on the research: “The launch of driverless taxis on London’s roads is an exciting step, and could promise a new era of innovation, but our data shows that many of us are still hesitant about embracing the technology.
“Ultimately, what our data shows is that as well as needing driverless cars to be road-ready and extensively tested, there needs to be more education around people’s safety concerns to help build confidence in autonomous vehicles.
“With driverless taxis now beginning to appear on London’s roads, it’s natural that people will have questions and concerns. Ultimately, it’s not a change that will happen overnight – and we hope to hear more as the rollout develops about how the technology will be introduced safely and at scale.”
For more information about Go.Compare, please visit: www.gocompare.com.
Contact Information
Rubie Barker
Notes to editors
*The research was conducted by Censuswide, among a sample of 2,000 Nationally Representative UK Respondents (aged 18+). The data was collected between 14.01.2026 - 16.01.2026. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the British Polling Council (BPC), and a signatory of the Global Data Quality Pledge. We adhere to the MRS Code of Conduct and ESOMAR principles
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About Go.Compare
Go.Compare is a comparison website that enables people to compare the costs and features of a wide variety of insurance policies, financial products and energy tariffs.
It does not charge people to use its services and does not accept advertising or sponsored listings, so all product comparisons are unbiased. Go.Compare makes its money through fees paid by the providers of products that appear on its various comparison services when a customer buys through the site.
When it launched in 2006, it was the first comparison site to focus on displaying policy details rather than just listing prices, with the aim of helping people to make better-informed decisions when buying their insurance. It is this approach to comparing products that secured the company an invitation to join the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) in 2008, and it is still the only comparison site to be a member of this organisation.
Go.Compare has remained dedicated to helping people choose the most appropriate products rather than just the cheapest and works with Defaqto, the independent financial researcher, to integrate additional policy information into a number of its insurance comparison services. This allows people to compare up to an extra 30 features of cover.
Go.Compare is part of Future Plc and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
More information can be found here www.gocompare.com or here https://www.futureplc.com/brands/.