Transporting Children in Autonomous Vehicles: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Objective Identify factors that impact parents’ decisions about allowing an unaccompanied child to ride in an autonomous vehicle (AV). Background AVs are being tested in several U.S. cities and on highways in multiple states. Meanwhile, suburban parents are using ridesharing services to shuttle children from school to extracurricular activities. Parents may soon be able to hire AVs to transport children. Method Nineteen parents of 8- to 16-year-old children, and some of their children, rode in a driving simulator in autonomous mode, then were interviewed. Parents also participated in focus groups. Topics included minimum age for solo child passengers, types of trips unaccompanied children might take, and vehicle features needed to support child passengers. Results Parents would require two-way audio communication and prefer video feeds of vehicle interiors, seatbelt checks, automatic locking, secure passenger identification, and remote access to vehicle information. Parents cited convenience as the greatest benefit and fear that AVs could not protect passengers during unplanned trip interruptions as their greatest concern. Conclusion Manufacturers have an opportunity to design family-friendly AVs from the outset, rather than retrofit them to be safe for child passengers. More research, especially usability studies where families interact with technology prototypes, is needed to understand how AV design impacts child passengers. Application Potential applications of this research include not only designing vehicles that can be used to safely transport children, seniors who no longer drive, and individuals with disabilities but also developing regulations, policies, and societal infrastructure to support safe child transport via AVs.

Parenting in the Digital Contexts: Are Parents Ready to Use Automated Vehicles to Transport Children?

“…Potential car features were derived from the potential concerns (Section 2.2.5), literature on car features in the context of ride sharing, users with disabilities, and smart systems [20,[37][38][39], and brainstorming sessions with parents from a prior qualitative study and analysis [40]. Four categories of car features about route control, assurance, child safety, and comfort included various aspects of the operation of AV, child restraint system, communication from/to the child/adult, access to the AV, support mechanism, and emergency situations.…”

“…Mothers and parents with younger children had higher levels of concern and rated the benefits lower than their counterparts [19]. A 2019 study explored the minimum age for children riding in AVs alone, ridership scenarios, and vehicle features needed to support such uses [20]. Upon experiencing a short simulated autonomous ride, 63% of parents thought they would be willing to be alone or be with their child in an AV, but only 21% would let their child ride alone.…”

“…Upon experiencing a short simulated autonomous ride, 63% of parents thought they would be willing to be alone or be with their child in an AV, but only 21% would let their child ride alone. Most study participants would let their children be alone in AVs when they reach age 16 [20]. A recent study showed that communication between children and parents during an autonomous school bus ride was important for both parties [21].…”

Security Issues in Shared Automated Mobility Systems: A Feminist HCI Perspective

“…It is women who make up two thirds of public transportation users [35]. In this context, we would like to point to [36], who conducted an exploratory user study on parents' decisions about allowing their child to ride in an AV unaccompanied. We hypothesize that children being able to drive without their parents could take a considerable amount of responsibility off women who are the ones that usually take their kids from A to B.…”

Preface to the Special Issue on Human Factors and Advanced Vehicle Automation: Of Benefits, Barriers, and Bridges to Safe and Effective Implementation

“…Lastly, other papers seek to uncover or identify emerging human factors issues that will become more prominent as the technology progresses, along with public acceptance and uptake. Although the use of advanced technology by nondrivers is still a nascent application, Tremoulet et al (2020) use a focus group and simulation to identify some of the factors that stand to impact parents' decisions about allowing their children to ride in an automated vehicle. Targeting a very different use case, Motamedi et al (2020) develop a user acceptance model of shared-ownership of automated vehicle, contrasted with personally owned vehicles.…”