Americans are increasingly aware of automated, self-driving vehicles, but they’re also increasingly wary of them, a study released Thursday shows. While understanding the technology and capabilities of AVs among U.S. consumers has increased to 58% from 43% in 2024, that understanding is not translating into trusting them, according to the JD Power 2026 U.S. Mobility Confidence Index (MCI) Study.SM conducted in collaboration with the MIT Advanced Vehicle Technology (AVT) Consortium. Indeed, fewer than one-in-four of the 2,898 consumers age 18 and over responding to the online survey in April said they would be “comfortable” riding in a fully self-driving vehicle. That hesitation to ride in an AV, however, is highly dependent on the specific situation, the study found. More than half, 54%, said they would have greater confidence in lower-risk, predictable scenarios such as food pickup, compared with just 31% for transporting children, revealing how higher risk leads to lower trust. The key to boosting confidence in full self-driving vehicles even in the face of perceived risk depends on “proven safety, real-world performance and clear consumer value,” said Lisa Boor, director of auto benchmarking and mobility development at JD Power, in a statement. “Consumers need to see that these systems can respond to unexpected situations, perform reliably in real-world conditions and clearly communicate what they are doing. Without that, broader adoption will remain limited,” she added. It’s a head-scratching situation, illustrated by the organizations’ Mobility Confidence Index, which measures consumer comfort with fully automated self-driving vehicles and purchase intent. On the index’s 100-point scale, consumer comfort has barely moved in that past three years, coming in at 37 in 2023 and holding steady at 39 in 2024 and 2026. The issues stifling any boost in consumer comfort with AVs are clear, according to the study. Personal safety was cited by