Autonomous vehicles promise to save up to 30,000 lives per year and prevent 94% of all road accidents, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration. Yet, paradoxically, research suggests that regulations mandating algorithms that optimize for saving lives threaten to create a collective action problem that could delay adoption of autonomous vehicles. This project seeks to identify precise behavioral interventions that could resolve the collective action problem. Through experimental and qualitative studies, it builds a toolbox of behavioral interventions to reduce consumer resistance to regulation and to restyle regulations in ways that induce pro-social behavior. Pulling these insights together, the project will prototype a blockchain-based tool that will reduce free riding and optimize the life saving potential of autonomous vehicles.
