Being good (at driving): Characterizing behavioral expectations on automated and human driven vehicles

The question of how to define good driving is not new. For over a century, researchers have wrestled with an answer for human drivers, and the debate has recently surfaced afresh for automated vehicles (AVs). Although numerous principles and models have striven to explore the associated complexities, no framing exists to coordinate and align these concepts into a clear vision.

In response to these challenges, we put forth the concept of Drivership as a framing for the realization of good driving behaviors. Drivership grounds the evaluation of driving behaviors in the alignment between the mutualistic expectations that exist amongst road users. Leveraging existing literature, we start by distinguishing (i) Empirical Expectations (i.e., reflecting “beliefs that a certain behavior will be followed,” drawing on past experiences) (Bicchieri, 2006); and (ii) Normative Expectations (i.e., reflecting “beliefs that a certain behavior ought to be followed,” based on societally agreed-upon principles) (Bicchieri, 2006). Because societal expectations naturally shift over time, we introduce a third type of expectation, Furtherance Expectations, denoting behavior which could be exhibited to enable continuous improvement of the transportation ecosystem. We position Drivership within the space of societal Normative Expectations, noting an existing overlap with some Empirical and Furtherance Expectations, constrained by what is technologically and physically feasible.

More generally, we establish a novel vocabulary to more rigorously tackle the conversation on stakeholders’ expectations, which is a key feature of value-sensitive design approaches. We also detail how Drivership comprises safety-centric behaviors, but extends beyond those, to include what we here term socially-aware behaviors (where there are no clear safety stakes).

Drivership supports multiple purposes, including advancing the understanding and evaluation of driving performance through benchmarking based on many criteria. As such, we argue that an appropriate framing of the notion of Drivership also underpins the overall development of a safety case. The paper explores these applications under the more general tenet of Drivership as a central element to roadway citizenship.