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Linking trust in human drivers and autonomous vehicles: evidence from a U.S. survey of vulnerable road users
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DOI：10.1007/s11116-026-10789-9.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Previous studies on Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) have largely focused on users inside the vehicle, neglecting Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) such as pedestrians and cyclists. This study addresses this gap by examining VRUs’ perceptions of AVs through a national survey of 1,165 respondents across the United States. While past research has mainly examined direct associations between explanatory factors (e.g., sociodemographic characteristics and prior experience) and AV perceptions, this study proposes an indirect link, suggesting that VRUs’ attitudes toward AVs may be influenced by their existing perceptions of human drivers encountered in everyday road environments. The results show that 43.5% of respondents expressed distrust in AVs as riders, compared to 51.4% as VRUs, while only about 11.9% and 25.5% reported trust in these respective contexts. A strong positive association was observed between trust in human drivers and trust in AVs (marginal effect is 10.9%). Factors positively associated with AV trust include higher income, possession of a driver’s license, familiarity with AV technology, prior AV riding experience, transit use, and recent VRU− related crash experience. Using an analytical framework that is inspired by path analysis, the analysis further reveals that several of these factors are indirectly associated with AV trust through their relationship with trust in human drivers. These findings provide behavioral insights into how everyday traffic interactions shape perceptions of emerging mobility technologies and offer implications for improving VRU trust and facilitating the safe integration of AVs.
Keywords:
Autonomous vehicles
Vulnerable road users
Trust
National survey
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