Publications by authors named "Owain Ritchie"
Article Synopsis
- Autonomous vehicles (AVs) can enhance safety and mobility but must effectively interact with pedestrians and human-driven vehicles for successful deployment.
- Six studies explored how AVs should behave at zebra crossings, focusing on stopping distances, wait times before moving, and traffic context, revealing that participants preferred vehicles to stop before the line and wait for pedestrians to clear the crossing.
- Findings indicated that AVs are often judged more critically than human drivers, with factors like other vehicles' presence and the observer's viewpoint impacting perceptions, highlighting the need for AV design considerations that prioritize the perspectives of all road users.
Previous research into perceptions of autonomous vehicles has largely focused on a priori attitudes, with little work on the perception of specific traffic situations, context and driving styles. The present study used three simulator experiments (total N = 150) to examine the combined effects of vehicle speed, lane position, information presentation and traffic context on occupants' levels of satisfaction with autonomous highway journeys. Overall, occupants preferred being in a vehicle that was mostly overtaking compared to being overtaken, regardless of whether the overtaking vehicles were exceeding the speed limit.
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