ARE DRIVERLESS CARS TRULY A REALITY? A TECHNICAL, SOCIAL AND ETHICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

Autonomous vehicles are increasingly becoming a reality in the near future. Over the years the automobile industry has continued to provide all types of incremental automations to their cars. Recent trends seem to imply that most consumers have accepted that self-driving cars are the future. Previous studies have focused on usage, technical features, policy issues and other dimensions that seem to prioritize the supply side of the industry. Few studies have also started to examine the ethical aspects of this particular technology. Our research study provides a preliminary understanding of the technical, social and ethical barriers that can influence adoption decision in consumers. Our focus was to understand the technical, social and ethical dimensions in a single study. We collected data from 282 individuals and were able to demonstrate that technical, social and ethical barriers will play a significant role in the adoption of the autonomous vehicles. We also found that a majority of the people would like to be involved in the decision making if the car had to react to a critical situation. In other words, most people were not yet prepared to let the car make the decision on who survives but if it does, it needs to minimize the harm.