I asked 7 questions to 27 people include KIT teachers. The questions are two basics from CDIO, three AVs questions, and two ethical questions.
First, I asked two basic CDIO questions. Half of the people drive a car and half do not. Some are students so they do not have cars. Many people drive a car for transportation. We live in Kanazawa, so public transportation is not useful. Some teachers drive a car to commute. Interestingly, men tend to drive more than women. The next basic question is whether you are interested in having the AVs. Half of the people said yes and half said no. Some expect to manage time for long distance driving. However, one male student is not interested in them because he loves driving. Women tend to be interested in having AVs more than men I guess women are busy for putting on makeup, texting, and SNS, which is why they want AVs.
In question 3, I asked them that what do they expect AVs the most. This graph shows that many people want to reduce the car accident. These days, even though the low labor cost of taxis has received attention in Japan, few people expected it. I guess car accident are more accidents directly connected with our life more than labor costs.
The next question is where should AVs operate the test driving. Many people think it is the best area to operate AVs only in the experiment facility first. It is not reality but technology should go ahead step by step. One male teacher suggested test driving on the highway because there are no pedestrians and no need for complicated driving skill. Actually, Honda will try AVs only in the highway by 2020.
Who are responsible for the accident when the AVs has an accident is the question 5. I did not give people the details at all because accidents are always unexpected and depending on the situation. Many people thought the driver or the maker. Only one people said engineer should take responsible.
The final question’s topic is ethics. While you are in the AVs, 10 people appear in front of the car. Will you swerve off to the side of the road, killing you but leaving the 10 pedestrians unharmed? Or will you kill 10 pedestrians and leave yourself unharmed? 71 % of the people chose the swerve way. Some people suggested it is necessary to improve the safety measures to protect driver. The next, if there were not only you but your child in the AV? There are the 10 extra pedestrians in front of the AV. 43% of people chose to swerve and the other 57% chose to stay on course.