Once a novelty for the few who actually bought a Tesla, the brand’s Autopilot system has been changing the world. It took practically no time at all for other manufacturers to being developing and offering their own forms of advanced autonomous technology. Now, with Tesla going under the microscope for just about any crash involving a Tesla Model S or Model X, China has decided to place a temporary ban on Autonomous car testing – at least until the government can set forth new regulations governing the use of the technology.

According to Automotive News Europe, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the police do have a draft of the proposed rules in hand, but so far there is has been no timeline as to when the news regulations will be finalized, approved, and set into play. I wouldn’t expect it to take an incredibly long time, though, as the push for autonomous technology in China is part of an initiative to upgrade technology. Which is, of course, paramount if China wants to compete against the other low-cost countries that are in the process of increasing their role in manufacturing.

While putting a halt on autonomous car testing in China will most certainly hurt auto manufacturers that are anxious to perfect their systems and bring them to the masses, it doesn’t mean as much to the people who will ultimately be using the systems in the future. Keep reading to learn more about that.

Continue reading for the full story.

There's a Study

With governments across the globe and auto manufacturers pushing autonomous driving tech as hard as they are, you would think that drivers everywhere want the technology. But, as it turns out, that really isn’t the case. In fact, a majority of people don’t want any self-driving technology in their cars at all. It could be because we simply don’t trust the technology or it could be a number of other reasons, but the end user isn’t as supportive as the push in the market suggests.

In a study published by University of Michigan’s Sustainable Worldwide Transportation team, 618 licensed drivers were asked which level of vehicle automation they want in future vehicles, and nearly half (45.8 percent) said they want no level of self-driving technology at all. Another 38.7 percent said they wanted partially self-driving cars – think adaptive cruise control – while only 15.5 percent of the people surveyed actually want fully autonomous vehicles.

While those statistics are based on a rather small pool of people, I wouldn’t be surprised that a survey on a larger scale would yield similar results or results that lean even farther toward no-self driving technology. The study quoted above was announced in May, which was before the fatal accident involving a Tesla Model S. Now that the subject matter of every accident involving a Tesla is being passed around like the dirtiest of dirty diapers, the general public seems more skeptical than ever. And, truth be told, they probably should be.

But, what do you think? Should Tesla owns be allowed to use Autopilot despite the fact that it is in Beta testing? Should there be stronger regulations for autonomous technology here in the States? I’d like to hear your opinions in the comments section below.