How internal and external risks affect the relationships between trust and driver behavior in automated driving systems
DOI: 10.1016/j.trc.2021.102973
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Summary
This study investigates how internal and external risks influence the relationship between driver trust and behavior in automated driving systems (ADS). While prior research has established that trust facilitates engagement in non-driving-related tasks (NDRTs), the moderating role of risk remains understudied. The authors define internal risk as uncertainty stemming from the ADS itself (manipulated via system reliability) and external risk as uncertainty from the driving environment (manipulated via visibility). The research aims to determine if these risk types weaken the impact of trust on trusting behaviors, specifically driver monitoring and NDRT performance. The researchers conducted a within-subjects experiment with 37 licensed drivers using a driving simulator. The study employed a 2 (ADS reliability: reliable vs. unreliable) × 2 (visibility: clear vs. foggy) design. Internal risk was manipulated by introducing false alarms in the unreliable condition, where the ADS incorrectly warned of obstacles in 30% of events. External risk was manipulated by reducing visibility distance from 1,000 feet in clear weather to 500 feet in foggy conditions. Participants performed a visual search NDRT while driving, with performance measured by task scores and eye-tracking data used to quantify monitoring ratios. Trust was measured both dynamically after each alert and via post-trial surveys. The results revealed distinct effects for internal and external risks. Internal risk significantly reduced ADS trust, whereas external risk (low visibility) did not significantly impact trust levels. Crucially, internal risk moderated the relationship between trust and NDRT performance: high ADS reliability enhanced the positive impact of trust on NDRT performance, while low reliability diminished this effect. Conversely, external risk moderated the relationship between trust and driver monitoring. In high-visibility conditions, higher trust led to decreased monitoring of the driving environment. However, in low-visibility conditions, trust did not reduce monitoring, as drivers continued to monitor the road regardless of their trust levels. Additionally, trust increased over time when the system was reliable. These findings highlight that the source of risk matters significantly in human-automation interaction. Internal risks directly erode trust and undermine the productivity benefits of ADSs, while external risks compel drivers to maintain vigilance regardless of trust. The study implies that intelligent ADS designs must account for these distinct risk mechanisms, potentially by responding to drivers’ trusting behaviors differently depending on whether the risk is internal or external. This contributes to the development of safer, more effective automated driving systems that can better calibrate driver trust and behavior in varying risk contexts.
Key finding
Internal risk from low system reliability reduces trust and weakens its positive impact on task performance, while external risk from low visibility reduces the negative impact of trust on driver monitoring.
Methodology
simulator
Sample size: 37
Provenance
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | author_sweep | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-28 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 15 | 2026-06-06 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| enrich | success | openalex | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-08 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-06 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 15 | 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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