This article investigates the acceptance of autonomous cars based on the role of attitudes toward autonomous vehicles, acceptance of technology, previous experiences, and gender. Using an online survey, which includes the Acceptance of Autonomous Vehicles (AVAS) and Technology Adoption Propensity scale (TAP), a sample of 1273 members of a university community was collected. Acceptance of using autonomous cars in a test drive and ordinary, real traffic scenarios, as well as the intention to buy one were measured via self-administered items. We used conditional process modeling to get a more detailed insight into the connections among these factors. The findings revealed that all four factors of attitudes towards autonomous vehicles (benefits in usefulness, benefits in situations, commonalities concerns, system concerns) but only the optimism factor of technology adaption propensity affected the acceptance. Dependency seemed to affect benefits in usefulness and the two concern variables. Gender differences are almost entirely explained away by the effects of attitudes. Previous experience had no significant effect in the model.

The aim of the article is to give an overview of human factor research in psychology applicable to autonomous driving. The study is centered around situation awareness, a widely used concept in human factor research regarding the operation of automated and semi-automated systems (and communication between autonomous vehicles and humans). A proposal is put forward for structuring situation awareness requirements for autonomous driving, which could be a starting point for defining such requirements, and may foster a discussion on the issues associated with the human factor in relation to autonomous driving. Two models of human error (the SHELL model and the Swiss cheese model) are also introduced, one of which represents an integrated approach of error in situations that involve humans working with complex machinery or instruments, while the other represents a more superficial viewpoint on the multicausal nature of errors. The present overview can provide an appropriate basis for a discussion about the role of the driver in autonomous vehicles, and the place of human factor research in the emerging field of self-driving technology.