Investigation of age difference in driver preferences for self-driving modes and behaviors in two traffic complexities

This study investigates age-related distinctions in preferences for self-driving vehicles, exploring their connections with traffic-related elements and individual perceptions. Analyzing two groups (23-44 and 60+ years old), the research uncovers nuanced findings that offer valuable insights for designing driver preference-based autonomous driving. The elder (Old: 60+) group, despite displaying elevated trust levels, exhibits lower preferences for self-driving compared to the young-to-middle (Y-M: 23-44) aged group. This discrepancy is highlighted alongside a significant significance between perceived difficulty and self-driving preferences in both age groups. At each traffic situation, the elder group lacks statistical significances between traffic complexity and perceived difficulty, signaling more intricate traffic perception process. Correspondence analysis underscores age-specific preferences for extreme human-engaged or -disengaged actions, handing over a control and no informing, emphasizing significances of situation-specific considerations. Correlations between current trust and preference choices align in both groups. As a result, we suggest various design considerations that could potentially improve driver-preference factor; customizable actions, gradual automation transitions, factor-specific scaling, and specific cut-off threshold, etc. This study not only reveals age-related variations but also provides potential design principles for preference-based decision-making systems in autonomous vehicles (AVs).