What drives support for self-driving car technology in the United States?

Recent advances in automotive technology have made fully automated self-driving cars technologically feasible. Despite offering many benefits such as increased safety, improved fuel efficiency, and greater disability access, public support for self-driving cars remains low. While previous studies fi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of risk research 2020-03, Vol.23 (3), p.275-287
Main Authors: Dixon, Graham, Hart, P. Sol, Clarke, Christopher, O'Donnell, Nicole H., Hmielowski, Jay
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Autonomous vehicles
Autonomy
Demography
Disability
Driving
Energy efficiency
Forecasting
Individualism
Positive emotions
Public opinion
Regulatory agencies
risk perception
Safety regulations
Self report
Self-driving cars
Technology
technology acceptance
Transportation
Transportation policy
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Summary:Recent advances in automotive technology have made fully automated self-driving cars technologically feasible. Despite offering many benefits such as increased safety, improved fuel efficiency, and greater disability access, public support for self-driving cars remains low. While previous studies find that demographic factors such as age and sex influence self-driving car support, limited research has examined variables that are well known to predict public attitudes toward emerging technology. Using self-report data from a quota sample of American adults (N = 1008), we find that age and sex are not significantly associated with support for self-driving car policies when controlling for these other variables. Instead, significant predictors of support included trust in automotive institutions and regulatory bodies, recognition of self-driving car benefits, positive affect toward self-driving cars, and a greater perception that human-driven cars are riskier than self-driving cars. Importantly, we also find that individualism is negatively associated with support. That is, people who value personal autonomy and limited government regulation may perceive policies encouraging self-driving car use as threatening to their worldviews. Altogether, our results suggest strategies for encouraging greater public support of self-driving vehicles while also forecasting potential barriers as this technology emerges as a fixture in transportation policy.
ISSN:1366-9877
1466-4461
DOI:10.1080/13669877.2018.1517384