Will we as Passengers Use Highly Automated Vehicles? Examining the Importance of Role Adaptation on People’s Acceptance of the Automation

Abstract

With increasing driving automation, driving tasks are shifting from drivers to automation systems and their roles are gradually changing from drivers to passengers. While efforts have been made to explore influencing factors of highly automated vehicles (HAVs) usage intention, few studies have linked role adaptation (RA) to variables from existing acceptance models. To fulfill this research gap, a HAV acceptance model was established based on RA, and other factors (i.e., situational trust, anxiety, and perceived usefulness [PU]). The proposed model validity was verified by subjective ratings collected from a driving simulator experiment involving 105 participants each of whom rode vehicles with three different automated driving styles. Results revealed that RA was an important factor in forming HAVs acceptance during initial human-automation interaction stages and could be increased by improving situational trust, PU, or reducing anxiety. Practically, these results can provide valuable guidance for enhancing consumers’ HAV acceptances.