Prepared by the infoerdve.lt editorial team based on a press release published by ELTA. Nearly half of Lithuanian residents say they would not feel safe riding in a car without a driver. At the same time, Lithuania has become the second country in Europe after the Netherlands to open the way for more advanced Tesla autonomous driving technology. The two facts point to a gap between technical and regulatory progress and public confidence. The change does not mean that fully driverless cars are about to appear widely on Lithuanian roads. For now, a human driver remains responsible for controlling the vehicle. 45 percent do not trust a driverless car A survey commissioned by Citadele Bank found that only 11 percent of Lithuanian residents would feel completely safe in an autonomous car without a driver. Another 38 percent said they would feel only partly safe. The largest group remains sceptical: 45 percent of respondents said they did not trust the technology. These figures measure public attitudes, not actual road safety, so they do not prove how people would behave after seeing such systems work in everyday travel. The survey also showed that opinions may shift when people are given more information. After respondents were told that autonomous cars could theoretically reduce the number of traffic accidents and deaths by up to 80 percent, 31 percent said they would feel safe in them. The share of those who did not trust the technology would fall from 45 percent to 16 percent. That 80 percent figure was presented in the survey as a theoretical scenario for testing attitudes. It should not be read as a result already confirmed on Lithuanian roads. Lithuania joins the Netherlands, but drivers remain necessary The new situation concerns advanced Tesla driver assistance functions. Such systems can take over