Transactions on Transport Sciences | Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal DOI: 10.5507/tots.2019.005 ToTS Volume 10, Issue 2: pg33–pg41 Palacky University in Olomouc Beliefs and expectations of driving learners about autonomous driving Ana Martí-Belda, Patricia Bosó, Ignacio Lijarcio University Research Institute on Traffc and Road Safety (INTRAS), University of Valencia,46016, Spain ABSTRACT: Autonomous driving is a topic that gen- erates great interest and social debate in the feld of transport and road safety. Professionals working on ve- hicle technologies, telecommunications engineers, and vehicle manufacturers say it is an imminent reality and that autonomous vehicles will be available in the near future. But there are still many issues to be resolved and many challenges to overcome. However, the opinion of end users has not been explored very much so far. This study aims to investigate the beliefs and expectations of 138 Spanish driving students about autonomous driving, through an online questionnaire designed “ad hoc”. Descriptive statistics and frequencies were de- termined for appropriate demographic variables such as gender, age range, and study level, or employment status. An independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare how the students would feel if they used an autonomous vehicle, preference for using the autono- mous vehicle in different situations, advantages and disadvantages of autonomous driving, and some con- cerns about autonomous driving by gender. Results showed that 77.5% of driving learners thought of an autonomous vehicle as a vehicle with a system that is able travel alone, but that the driver can drive manu- ally at will; 39.9% thought that vehicles that do not need a driver are a very useful system; and 35, 5% be- lieved that such cars would be available between 2017 and 2020, although 79% did not consider buying an autonomous vehicle. In the event of an accident, 50% of the students believed that the driver and the vehicle manufacturer should share the responsibility. Regard- ing preferences, 73.2% preferred to drive themselves rather than ride in an autonomous vehicle because driving is a pleasure for 51.4%, and they would only use it in case of alcohol, drug, or medicine consump- tion, or when fatigued, stressed, or in a monotonous driving situation. Public policies and manufacturers should take these results into consideration. KEYWORDS: Autonomous driving; beliefs, feel- ings, expectations, concerns 1. INTRODUCTION Even though the number of accidents in Europe is decreasing (EC, 2016), the rate of progress has re- cently slowed down. Moreover, according to WHO (2015), the total number of road traffc deaths world- wide has plateaued at 1.25 million per year, with the highest road traffc fatality rates in low-income coun- tries. Thus, these fgures justify the need to put effort into increasing road safety. In the last decade, vehicle safety systems such as ADAS (Advanced Driving As- sistance Systems) have evolved to reduce the num- bers of deaths and injuries in urban areas and roads. According to European statistics, from 2001 to 2015, mortality was reduced to 28,900 deaths, largely due to innovations the automotive sector has added in terms of safety. It is important to note that the solu- tion to this problem is as complex as its origins, and, therefore, we must use a multifactorial approach. However, large investments are currently being made in technology and infrastructures. Vehicle safety systems have been experiencing a constant evolution and connectivity, and they make up one of the industrial sectors with the most inno- vation and incorporation of new technologies. Devel- oping autonomous driving systems that are able to assist humans in everyday tasks and reduce fatalities caused by traffc accidents is one of the great chal- lenges of modern computer science (Geiger, Lenz, & Urtasun, 2012). On the one hand, autonomous driving represents an attractive innovation for fu- ture mobility (Dixit, Chand & Nair, 2016; Fleetwood, 2017). ADAS’ primary function is to facilitate driv- ers’ task performance by providing real-time advice, instructions, and warnings that are expected to have a positive effect on traffc safety. On the other hand, there are also some potential problems. The predict- ed effects are not always as great as expected, and some concerns have been raised that drivers adapt