Public attitude towards autonomous vehicles before and after crashes: A detailed analysis based on the demographic characteristics

Abstract

AbstractAutonomous vehicles (AVs) have the potential to offer a large number of benefits such as reducing the energy consumed and reducing the anxiety of the drivers. On the other side, the degree to which AVs will be adopted mainly depends on the public attitude and acceptance of this emerging technology. Over the last few years, AVs got involved in multiple accidents with different levels of severity. These accidents were widely covered in the media, creating a debate about the safety of this technology and discouraging people from adopting this new technology even if it offers a safer environment. In this study, a questionnaire survey was conducted to understand the impact of accidents involving AVs on the public perception of this technology for respondents with different demographic characteristics (age, gender, education, income, and prior knowledge about AVs). The results show the most negative shift in the attitude occurs for respondents who are older, female, and have no prior knowledge about AVs or their incidents. Additionally, the results shed light on the importance of educating the public about AVs in order to guarantee the highest level of acceptance. Finally, the findings of this paper can help AVs developer, policymakers, and transport planning agencies in understating the public attitude after accidents in order to react properly to avoid discouraging people from adopting AVs.

Keywords

• Accidents
• autonomous vehicles
• public acceptance
• safety
• self-driving cars