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Public willingness to share the road with autonomous trucks and truck platoons is critical to realizing their efficiency and environmental benefits, yet the theoretical foundations for understanding non-user acceptance remain underdeveloped. We extend the construct of Existence Acceptance and develop a model grounded in Self-Identity Theory, Affective Science, and the Cost–Benefit Paradigm to examine how four antecedents shape acceptance and preferences for regulatory measures: Technology Familiarity and Experience , Perceived Benefits , Perceived Threats , and Affective Responses . Using data from a representative sample of U.S. car owners, structural equation models show that perceived crash risk has more than twice the impact of perceived benefits on acceptance, and that anxiety significantly amplifies the effect of perceived threats, while excitement directly enhances acceptance. Greater acceptance is associated with less support for restrictive regulation. Respondents most favor area restrictions such as dedicated lanes and geo-fencing, as well as human oversight, while restrictions limiting operation to off-hours receive the lowest level of support. These findings offer a transferable framework for evaluating public responses to shared infrastructure technologies and highlight a path toward public acceptance of automated freight vehicles, one that emphasizes controlled integration, human oversight, and addressing public safety concerns.
Encarnación et al. (Fri,) studied this question.