Framing the approval to test self-driving cars on public roads. The effect of safety and competitiveness on citizens' agreement

Abstract

Regulating self-driving cars poses a dilemma for policy-makers. Early testing of self-driving cars on public roads is necessary to accumulate data and driving experience. While approval procedures with high safety standards could harm manufacturers' ability to innovate by delaying tests, low safety standards could put human lives at risk. This study presents an issue framing experiment that directly addresses how citizens evaluate the alleged trade-off between safety and economic competitiveness. The experiment was conducted on representative online samples of citizens in the USA, Japan, and Germany. Results show that citizens' agreement to pilot self-driving cars on public roads is significantly higher in a safety frame, even if safety is explicitly associated with a loss in competitiveness. Socio-demographic characteristics and technology attitudes affect citizens' agreement to pilot self-driving cars primarily in a competitiveness frame, while political attitudes have no impact. Finally, the results show few country differences, indicating room to harmonize self-driving cars' safety regulations internationally.