A new study commissioned by MIT's AgeLab, in association with the Hartford Centre for Mature Market Excellence, shows that 76% of drivers in their 50's will be actively seeking out features such as blind spot monitoring or autonomous braking when they buy their next car. Last year when a similar study of mature US drivers was conducted, only one third of respondents had the same attitude towards active safety technology. Regardless of how youthful the marketing campaign or how unconventional a car's design may appear to be, the average new-car buyer is 50 years old across continental Europe and North America, and unless a vehicle appeals to this demographic, it's not going to sell, no matter how many social media likes it amasses.
So, if mature drivers want something, it won't take long before the feature becomes standard equipment and the sooner these active systems become popular, the sooner self-driving cars could actually arrive.
When asked to pick individual systems, 87% of the 2015 US respondents said they'd like a blind spot monitoring system, 85% are interested in a crash mitigation system and 79% in a lane keeping or lane departure warning system. Attitudes towards driverless cars are also changing, for the better.
"Our findings indicate that some drivers age 50+ would be more willing to drive in certain situations if they had particular technologies, suggesting they associate advanced technologies with enhanced safety," said Jodi Olshevski, gerontologist and executive director of The Hartford Centre for Mature Market Excellence.
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