# Teenagers and Automated Vehicles: Are They Ready to Use Them?
## 4 Results and Discussion
### Focus Group Results
#### 4.1.4 First Ideas, Knowledge, Opinions, and Experiences with AVs  
After sharing their mobility habits and the modes used, the participants were asked to mention what came to mind when they heard about AVs. The majority pointed out the positive aspects related to the environment due to the lower emissions, the reliability, the safety due to less human intervention in the driving tasks, the independence, as the driving license would not be necessary anymore, and the improved driving experience and comfort. Additionally, some of the participants associated AVs with words such as \"revolutionary technology\", \"futuristic\", \"electric\", \"self-driving\", and \"artificial intelligence\" (AI), but also with a specific vehicle manufacturer (\"Tesla\").  
_\"I think there are going to be automated vehicles that children or younger people who are not old enough to get a driver's license could use to move around and they might win independency by using them\"._ [PERSON], 15 y/o  
The negative aspects linked to AVs were related to ethics, mainly regarding the decision the car would take in the case of an accident; they provided examples that the teenagers had read or seen in social media.  
Going further on the potential use of such vehicles and on the way that they will drive around, about one-third of the teenagers considered AVs to always need the possibility of human intervention. This was expressed through safety concerns, mainly with regard to Level 5 automation, which could fail for various reasons, whereas a human operator onboard could intervene in particular situations. According to the teenagers, human supervision is not only meaningful in assisting in the technology breakdowns that might arise but also in determining liability in the case of accidents. Conversely, opposite opinions were expressed by those that imagined AVs without human intervention, as they considered humans to be more prone to errors compared to machines. Some participants defined AVs as private vehicles, accessible to all (like the conventional vehicles of nowadays), customised to personal preferences, with lower pollutant emissions, and comfortable. The private use was supported by the need to avoid the interactions with strangers that they currently face when using PT. Others described AVs as being shared or used in PT as such scenarios would better support environmental sustainability and lower the number of vehicles on the road. Moreover, some participants perceived AVs as vehicles for freight transport that would drive at night, with the potential to increase efficiency and drive more hours compared to human drivers, overcoming some current legal limitations.  
When asked if they already had any kind of real-life experience with AVs or if they had heard/read about them, all the FG participants responded positively. Some had experienced partial automated public transport means (e.g., metro, train) and described these encounters as safe and nice experiences. Others talked about their experiences with partial automated cars as being \"interesting\", or they talked about experiences with prototype vehicles used for tests and reported 'fear' or a'strange' feeling due to the absence of the steering wheel. Few mentioned that they only heard about AVs from books or media.  
Overall, the ideas and opinions presented by the teenagers are in line with the limited literature available and confirm the findings of [PERSON] (2019), who observed positive attitudes towards AVs among teenagers and young people.