What motorists want from self-driving cars

A newly-released research paper has tested the acceptance of autonomous cars of the future, and found that respondents to a survey were divided – but also open to the next-gen technology.

One of the research paper’s authors is Dr Mauricio Marrone, a senior lecturer at Macquarie University’s Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance.

In a story published on Macquarie’s ‘The Lighthouse’ website, Dr Marrone outlined what it would take for motorists to accept autonomous cars.

“We looked at usage intentions based on variables including perceived usefulness and ease of use, as well as factors such as social influence – what people around you are doing – individual differences, such as trust and the need to be in control, and system characteristics, such as price and enjoyment,” Dr Marrone said.

“While our full study considers all of these variables – and combinations thereof – in detail, we essentially found positive usage intentions where there were perceptions of reliability and safety, of price, of ease of use, of an improvement on existing mobility options, and of compatibility with existing mobility options.”

The factors in favour of acceptance included more productive (or recreational) use of time during commutes, the convenience of sending a Level 5 autonomous car off to find a parking spot for itself, and picking up the kids from school without having to leave home.

More entrepreneurial types might pimp out their autonomous car as a taxi during those periods when it’s not needed.

Respondents also presumed that autonomous cars would be inherently safer and would reduce the road toll.

Theoretically too, overall fuel consumption would be reduced, as would congestion and travel times, if the car is more efficient and focused on the job at hand than a driver would be.

Then there were the concerns…

Some issues, like safety and legal protection for pedestrians and other road users, have been canvassed already. So too has the question of ‘malicious hacking’.

But respondents to the latest survey also raised the matter of dwindling job prospects for ‘alternative transport providers’ – taxi or Uber drivers.

In addition, respondents expressed uncertainty that autonomous vehicles will necessarily be affordable to purchase and maintain.

Road taxes may be another hurdle to broader community acceptance, along with computer/automation problems (software and hardware specific to autonomous motoring).

Finally, the respondents also noted that if you make motoring easier, through Level 5 autonomy, it may have the effect of increasing traffic congestion, with a concomitant rise in emissions and fuel use.

That assumes, of course, that we’re still using fuel in a liquid form by then.

It also appears that one of the major road blocks to autonomous cars will be peer group pressure, or what your favourite automotive influencer has to say on the subject.

You can read the Macquarie article online, and if you have a PhD in stats and don’t find research methodology and the jargon that goes with it mind-numbingly dull, the research paper can also be viewed online.