Public perceptions of autonomous vehicle safety: An international comparison
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are envisioned to reduce road fatalities by switching control of safety-critical tasks from humans to machines. Realizing safety benefits on the ground depends on technological advancement as well as the scale and rate of AV adoption, which are influenced by public percepti...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier BV
2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127651 |
| _version_ | 1826208146164547584 |
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| author | Moody, Joanna Charlotte Bailey, Nathaniel Zhao, Jinhua |
| author2 | MIT Energy Initiative |
| author_facet | MIT Energy Initiative Moody, Joanna Charlotte Bailey, Nathaniel Zhao, Jinhua |
| author_sort | Moody, Joanna Charlotte |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are envisioned to reduce road fatalities by switching control of safety-critical tasks from humans to machines. Realizing safety benefits on the ground depends on technological advancement as well as the scale and rate of AV adoption, which are influenced by public perceptions. Employing multilevel structural equation modeling, this paper explores differences in perceptions of AV safety across 33,958 individuals in 51 countries. At the individual level, young males report higher perceptions of current AV safety and predict fewer years until AVs are safe enough for them to use. Since young males are more likely to undertake risky driving behavior, their positivity towards AV safety could lead to more rapid manifestations of safety benefits. Urban, fully employed individuals with higher incomes and education levels also report fewer years until AVs are safe to use. The multilevel model identifies country-level effects after controlling for individual characteristics. Developed countries with greater motorization rates and lower road death rates tend to have greater awareness of AVs but are more pessimistic about their present and future safety. Individuals in developing countries that face greater road safety challenges, particularly involving 2- and 3-wheeled vehicles, predict fewer years until AVs will be safe enough for them to use. Higher AV safety perception among the most risk-taking road users and in developing countries coincide with sociodemographic groups and geographic areas facing the greatest road safety challenges and most in need of improvement, highlighting a potential opportunity to reduce the global disparity in road safety. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:01:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/127651 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:01:09Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Elsevier BV |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1276512023-01-03T04:50:16Z Public perceptions of autonomous vehicle safety: An international comparison Moody, Joanna Charlotte Bailey, Nathaniel Zhao, Jinhua MIT Energy Initiative Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are envisioned to reduce road fatalities by switching control of safety-critical tasks from humans to machines. Realizing safety benefits on the ground depends on technological advancement as well as the scale and rate of AV adoption, which are influenced by public perceptions. Employing multilevel structural equation modeling, this paper explores differences in perceptions of AV safety across 33,958 individuals in 51 countries. At the individual level, young males report higher perceptions of current AV safety and predict fewer years until AVs are safe enough for them to use. Since young males are more likely to undertake risky driving behavior, their positivity towards AV safety could lead to more rapid manifestations of safety benefits. Urban, fully employed individuals with higher incomes and education levels also report fewer years until AVs are safe to use. The multilevel model identifies country-level effects after controlling for individual characteristics. Developed countries with greater motorization rates and lower road death rates tend to have greater awareness of AVs but are more pessimistic about their present and future safety. Individuals in developing countries that face greater road safety challenges, particularly involving 2- and 3-wheeled vehicles, predict fewer years until AVs will be safe enough for them to use. Higher AV safety perception among the most risk-taking road users and in developing countries coincide with sociodemographic groups and geographic areas facing the greatest road safety challenges and most in need of improvement, highlighting a potential opportunity to reduce the global disparity in road safety. 2020-09-17T21:37:32Z 2020-09-17T21:37:32Z 2020-01 2019-07 2020-08-28T15:52:15Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0925-7535 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127651 Moody, Joanna et al. "Public perceptions of autonomous vehicle safety: An international comparison." Safety Science 121 (January 2020): 634-650 © 2019 Elsevier Ltd en http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2019.07.022 Safety Science Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ application/pdf Elsevier BV MIT web domain |
| spellingShingle | Moody, Joanna Charlotte Bailey, Nathaniel Zhao, Jinhua Public perceptions of autonomous vehicle safety: An international comparison |
| title | Public perceptions of autonomous vehicle safety: An international comparison |
| title_full | Public perceptions of autonomous vehicle safety: An international comparison |
| title_fullStr | Public perceptions of autonomous vehicle safety: An international comparison |
| title_full_unstemmed | Public perceptions of autonomous vehicle safety: An international comparison |
| title_short | Public perceptions of autonomous vehicle safety: An international comparison |
| title_sort | public perceptions of autonomous vehicle safety an international comparison |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127651 |
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