The Perception of Autonomous Vehicles by the Modern Society: A Survey

Autonomous vehicles (AV) are undergoing rapid worldwide development. They will only become a success if they are accepted by their users. Therefore, there is a need for user acceptance for these vehicles. Previous studies on acceptance of AV have identified several predictors. Inspired by these studies, our investigation is aimed at sociodemographic characteristics, including broader individual and societal acceptance, beyond technical issues to get a clear view of user acceptance. In this study, we surveyed 229 respondents, using a 46-item online questionnaire. Overall, our analysis revealed that the respondents are most concerned about crashing/malfunctioning, purchase price, liability for incidents, interaction with non-AV, performance in unexpected situations, hacking and safety. The results also revealed that the AV are perceived as “somewhat low risk” to drive. Gender, age, education level and employment status had varied relationships with the perceived concerns and general attitude towards the AV. For instance, respondents with a university degree (Bachelor/Master/PhD) are less concerned about the liability of accidents and AV system failure than those without it. Similarly, respondents between 36 – 65 years of age are more concerned and even refused to drive AV in comparison to the age ranges of 18 – 35 years and 65+ years