Who is to blame for crashes involving autonomous vehicles? Exploring blame attribution across the road transport system

Abstract

The introduction of fully autonomous vehicles is approaching. This warrants a re-consideration of road crash liability, given drivers will have diminished control. This study, underpinned by attribution theory, investigated blame attribution to different road transport system actors following crashes involving manually driven, semi-autonomous and fully autonomous vehicles. It also examined whether outcome severity alters blame ratings. 396 participants attributed blame to five actors (vehicle driver/user, pedestrian, vehicle, manufacturer, government) in vehicle–pedestrian crash scenarios. Different and unique patterns of blame were found across actors, according to the three vehicle types. ..