Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Automated Vehicles, United States, 2021: Examining the Alignment Between Preferences for Adoption and Perceived Safety
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Summary
This study examines the alignment between U.S. public preferences for adopting automated vehicles (AVs) and their perceptions of AV safety, aiming to understand barriers to large-scale deployment. Motivated by calls to equip new vehicles with automated technologies to improve traffic safety, the research investigates whether individuals’ desired level of automation matches the level they perceive as safest. The study utilizes data from the 2021 Traffic Safety Culture Index, a national online survey conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The sample comprised 3,382 U.S. residents aged 16 and older, recruited via probability-based random digit dial and address-based sampling, with weights applied to align with the U.S. population demographics. Respondents selected their preferred AV level for ownership (assuming no cost barrier) and the level they felt safest using, based on SAE J3016 levels 0 through 5. The results indicate that approximately three-quarters of respondents were aligned, preferring to own the same AV level they perceived as safest. Level 3 automation was the most preferred for both ownership (23%) and perceived safety (24%). Demographic analysis revealed that individuals under 40 and males were more likely to prefer and feel safe with higher levels of automation (Levels 4 and 5), whereas those aged 65 and older favored lower levels (0–2). Among the 27% of respondents whose preferences and safety perceptions were mismatched, 78% felt that a lower level of automation was safer than the level they preferred to own. These mismatched respondents exhibited significantly higher concerns regarding potential AV issues, including technology malfunction, lack of driving control, vehicle hacking, and data privacy, compared to their aligned counterparts. For instance, among those preferring Level 3 but deeming it unsafe, 62% were extremely or very concerned about technology malfunction, compared to 50% of aligned respondents. The findings suggest that while public attitudes toward AV adoption and safety are generally consistent, a significant minority harbor safety concerns that diverge from their adoption preferences. The study concludes that factors beyond safety, such as perceived usefulness or ease of use, may drive adoption decisions for those who prefer higher automation despite safety reservations. The authors recommend further research to characterize these complex dynamics and emphasize the need for periodic monitoring of public perceptions to inform public awareness and education strategies. This work contributes to understanding the psychological and attitudinal factors influencing AV acceptance, highlighting that addressing specific safety concerns is critical for promoting broader adoption.
Key finding
While most respondents aligned their preferred AV ownership level with their perceived safety level, those with mismatched views predominantly preferred higher automation levels than they considered safe and expressed greater concern about potential AV issues.
Methodology
survey
Sample size: 3382
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_aaa_foundation on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | aaa_foundation | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-23 |
| archive | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| chunk | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| embed | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-02 |
| enrich | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 24 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
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- Empirical Findings: self report data, observational prevalence