Acceptance of Automated Driving Across Generations: The Role of Risk and Benefit Perception, Knowledge, and Trust

The eventual adoption of automated vehicles seems inevitable. With the potential to reduce traffic accidents caused by human error [1], decrease congestion, increase mobility, and yield more efficient use of commuting time, most major automakers as well as several technology companies have invested in their development. Policymakers and manufacturers need to understand people’s risk and benefit perceptions around automated vehicles in order to understand their likelihood of adoption, as well as to communicate about vehicles’ potential benefits and to address risks effectively. This study draws on data from a survey of 1,765 adults in the United States with an embedded experiment to examine risk and benefit perceptions around automated vehicles across different generations to understand how factors such as people’s generational age, knowledge and trust affect attitudes toward acceptance and use. Generations differed in driving behaviors and perceptions of driving-related technologies. Participants’ attitudes toward automated vehicles were predicted by age group and gender, but not by experimental condition. Independent of condition, however, exposure to the intervention did have an effect on attitudes: participants’ risk perceptions decreased after viewing an informational video, while their benefit perceptions increased. Consistent with earlier research, trust, knowledge, and risk and benefit perceptions are related to acceptance of automated vehicles. Our results also show, however, that informational materials that may enhance positive feelings about the technology can increase people’s benefit perceptions. This work provides a basis for further research into the acceptance of automated vehicles and the risks associated with them as they approach consumer markets.