Do Drivers have Preconceived Ideas about an Automated Vehicle's Driving Behaviour?

This study investigated drivers' preconceived notions about manoeuvres of Automated Vehicles (AVs) compared to manually driven vehicles (MVs) using a pseudo-coupled driving simulator. The simulator displayed a message indicating the state of approaching vehicles (AV/MV) in a bottleneck scenario, while participants were informed that the MV was controlled by an experimenter using another simulator, despite all trials having the same preprogrammed behaviours. Results showed that the types of AV/MV did not impact participants’ subjective responses. Communication through kinematic cues of the AV/MV was effective, with higher perceived safety, comprehension, and trust reported for approaching vehicles that yielded with an offset away from participants. Perceived safety and trust of the AV were also higher for trials with a light-band external Human Machine Interface (eHMI). This study highlights the value of both explicit and implicit cues for the communication of AVs with other drivers.