Learning to drive: Parental attitudes toward introducing teen drivers to advanced driver assistance systems.

OBJECTIVE: Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) have the potential to help mitigate the crash risk faced by new teen drivers. There has been little research on how these drivers use ADAS, as most only have access to these systems in their parents' vehicles when learning to drive because teens tend to drive older, less expensive vehicles when driving independently. This study examined how parental attitudes toward ADAS influence how and when parents introduce their teens to these systems when teaching them to drive. METHODS: Three web-based focus groups were conducted with parents who owned ADAS-equipped vehicles and who either had a teen with either a learner permit or a teen who recently began driving independently. The moderator-led discussion examined participant attitudes about teen driving risk, the perceived benefits or risks associated with teen use of ADAS, and parents' teaching strategies for ADAS. Researchers generated a list of likely themes from a review of existing literature and then coded participant responses according to those themes. RESULTS: Parents who chose to introduce ADAS to their new teen drivers did so while also reporting conflicting opinions about the reliability of vehicle technologies and the impact of such systems on driving safety and skill acquisition. Many parents reported some distrust of ADAS and concerns that some features could hinder the development of good driving habits, although most participants stated that ADAS have had a positive impact on their teen drivers' safety. Opinions were split about the best point at which to introduce ADAS to teens, with half preferring introduction at the outset and half preferring to wait until the teen had mastered basic driving skills. Attitudes varied according to individual vehicle systems, with a preference for blind spot monitoring and a general dislike of lane-keeping assistance. CONCLUSIONS: Specific concerns about the potential impact of ADAS on teen driving safety and skill acquisition do not prevent parents from using such systems, although the teaching strategies parents use vary according to their preferences for individual systems.

Exploring Trust in Self-Driving Vehicles Through Text Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined attitudes toward self-driving vehicles and the factors motivating those attitudes. BACKGROUND: Self-driving vehicles represent potentially transformative technology, but achieving this potential depends on consumers' attitudes. Ratings from surveys estimate these attitudes, and open-ended comments provide an opportunity to understand their basis. METHOD: A nationally representative sample of 7,947 drivers in 2016 and 8,517 drivers in 2017 completed the J.D. Power U.S. Tech Choice StudySM, which included a rating for level of trust with self-driving vehicles and associated open-ended comments. These open-ended comments are qualitative data that can be analyzed quantitatively using structural topic modeling. Structural topic modeling identifies common themes, extracts prototypical comments for each theme, and assesses how the survey year and rating affect the prevalence of these themes. RESULTS: Structural topic modeling identified 13 topics, such as "Tested for a long time," which was strongly associated with positive ratings, and "Hacking & glitches," which was strongly associated with negative ratings. The topics of "Self-driving accidents" and "Trust when mature" were more prominent in 2017 compared with 2016. CONCLUSION: Structural topic modeling reveals reasons underlying consumer attitudes toward vehicle automation. These reasons align with elements typically associated with trust in automation, as well as elements that mediate perceived risk, such as the desire for control as well as societal, relational, and experiential bases of trust. APPLICATION: The analysis informs the debate concerning how safe is safe enough for automated vehicles and provides initial indicators of what makes such vehicles feel safe and trusted.