Car makers are working hard to make fully autonomous vehicles a reality, but that doesn't mean consumers are ready for this futuristic technology.

According to a new survey, consumers — especially women — are largely skeptical about self-driving cars. The survey of 1,028 Americans nationwide, conducted by the personal finance website NerdWallet, found that 50 percent of respondents wouldn't pay extra for a driverless car and 46 percent don't think they're safe.

"Our survey … found a distinct lack of enthusiasm toward the prospect of driverless cars, with only a small minority 'very interested' in buying one and nearly twice as many saying they were 'not at all interested,'" NerdWallet's Amy Danise wrote in a blog post.

Men, however, may be a little more accepting of the new technology. In the survey, half of men expressed interest in owning a self-driving car, compared to just 37 percent of women.

Most women expressed concern about the safety of self-driving vehicles, with 55 percent citing it as a possible drawback of the new technology, compared to 37 percent of men, who are more concerned that autonomous vehicles will take the fun out of driving. Forty-four percent of men expressed this concern, compared to just 23 percent of women.

For men and women, however, the biggest possible drawback is price. Sixty-three percent of men and 64 percent of women predict self-driving cars will be too expensive.

The survey also revealed a "sharp divide" in views on self-driving cars between millennials and older Americans. Fifty-three percent of respondents between 18 and 29 years old said they were either "very" or "somewhat" interested in owning a self-driving car, compared to 41 percent of those 30 and older.

Meanwhile, regardless of age and gender, consumers have a "limited amount of trust in autonomous car technology" overall, the survey found. When asked whether they would put a child in a driverless car to go to school or a friend's house, just 6 percent would send the kid off.

But while they might not be ready for fully autonomous vehicles, consumers are interested in safety technologies like blind-spot detection and emergency braking, which are paving the way for self-driving cars.

"People did show interest in safety technologies such as collision avoidance, suggesting the possibility that they will eventually come around to self-driving cars if they can be sold on the cars' safety promises (and if men can still have a little fun)," Danise wrote.

Earlier today, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) strongly recommended that collision avoidance systems become standard on all new vehicles.