Hands Off the Wheel, Hands Off the Choice? A Discrete Choice Experiment on Trolley Dilemma in Autonomous Vehicles

Publication Date

1-29-2026

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Travel Behaviour and Society

Volume

44

DOI

10.1016/j.tbs.2026.101251

Abstract

As autonomous vehicles (AVs) are increasingly integrated into everyday mobility systems, ethically complex crash scenarios have become a critical issue. Therefore, trolley dilemmas have attracted significant attention. However, little is known about how moral programming influences consumers’ acceptance of an AV. This study investigated the relative impact of ethical decision logic, accident liability, and safety performance on AV adoption preferences. A stated-choice experiment was conducted with 1,032 Korean respondents, and a mixed logit model with the Bayesian estimation method was used to estimate heterogeneous utility parameters. The experiment included five attributes: whether the AV protects the driver or pedestrian, the party responsible for the accident, annual accident probability, algorithm personalization, and purchase price. Demographic characteristics were also examined. The results indicated that the attribute “whether an AV protects drivers or pedestrians” had no significant effect on consumer utility. By contrast, a lower accident probability and assigning responsibility to manufacturers or software developers rather than to drivers substantially increased AV acceptance. Male, urban, and lower-income respondents were more likely to prefer AVs that protect drivers and shift the liability toward institutional actors. These findings suggest that consumers prioritize measurable safety and institutional accountability over abstract ethical logic. For AV developers and policymakers, these results highlight the value of adaptive algorithmic frameworks and clearly defined liability structures. This study contributes to the design of socially acceptable AV systems that align with public expectations in the age of algorithmic decision-making.

Keywords

Accident liability, Autonomous vehicles, Choice experiment, Consumer preference analysis, Mixed logit model, Trolley dilemma

Department

Global Innovation and Leadership

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