A Question of Trust: An Ethnographic Study of Automated Cars on Real Roads

Recent technological advances in automated cars have brought them closer to regular use on the roads. Accordingly, research on the driver's perspective is increasing. However, previous studies have limitations in terms of the length of the study period and richness of the user's experience. In this paper, we conducted an ethnographic experiment to observe the interaction between humans and automated cars. Six participants rode in a prototype automated car on a real road one hour a day for six days under various weather conditions. We found that even after six days of utilizing it, participants did not fully trust the automated car. We identified nine distrust factors that strongly influenced their experiences in the automated car, classifying them according to Lee and See's classification of three trust categories: process, performance, and purpose. We also present serval ideas based on the study results.