How Do You Want to be Driven? Investigation of Different Highly-Automated Driving Styles on a Highway Scenario

Abstract

There is not yet sufficient knowledge on how people want to be driven in highly automated vehicles. In the present study, three different driving styles - dynamic, comfortable and everyday driving - are investigated in a highway scenario to better understand people’s preferences regarding driving styles. 22 subjects experienced variations of lane change manoeuvres with two varying characteristics: duration and initiation time of the lane change manoeuvres. The more dynamic a driving style was, the shorter those two variables became. Results show that subjects prefer a more defensive driving style. The comfortable driving style caused less perceived discomfort and higher perceived safety over the whole test track. Interestingly, not even driving fun is positively influenced by a more offensive way of highly-automated driving. Later initiation times and shorter durations of lane change manoeuvres lead to significantly worse assessments of the driving style. These results deliver recommendations for driving style design.