Perceptions of Autonomous Vehicles: A Survey Study in Turkiye

The automotive industry continues to grow rapidly with technological developments. Vehicles are being equipped with new software and sensors which assist drivers. People have become familiar with the L1 and L2 vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems. However, the idea of full automation is still new to most people. In Turkiye, AVs are not present on roads. Thus, neither pedestrians nor drivers have been in interaction with AVs yet. This study investigates the preliminary perception of AVs among road users in Turkiye. The data were collected via a face-to-face survey. A binary logit and a random forest model were used to identify the critical factors in the positive attitudes toward AVs. Binary logit and random forest models resulted in similar findings. Age, education level, people who would feel safe driving in an AV, and who believed that urban traffic congestion would decrease were positive about AVs. The random forest model showed the same accuracy when the two models were compared. Most public opinion studies about AVs have been investigated in developed countries. It is believed that this study will help to understand the perception of AVs in developing countries.