Trust, safety and security are the most important factors affecting passengers’ attitudes towards self-driving cars. Younger people felt their personal security to be significantly better than older people.
The findings are from a Finnish study into passengers’ attitudes towards, and experiences of, self-driving cars. The study is also the first in the world to examine passengers’ experiences of self-driving cars in winter conditions.
The findings were published in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour. The study was carried out in collaboration between the University of Eastern Finland and Tampere University.
Self-driving cars face huge expectations in Europe and the United States, which is why passengers’ experiences and expectations stand at the core of their development. The Finnish study explored passengers’ experiences in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, and in Muonio, a small town in Finnish Lapland. In Helsinki, passengers used a driverless shuttle bus in two test areas. In Muonio, local residents travelled with an autonomous car in heavy winter conditions on the main road. The quantitative survey included 141 people, and 70 people participated in a qualitative interview.
Read more at University of Eastern Finland
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