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Do you trust your car? Enacting car safety

Tong, Jennifer LU (2016) TKAM02 20161
Division of Ethnology
Abstract
As the era of self-driving cars approaches, there is extensive discussion in the media about the next generation of vehicles: the potential safety benefits offered by new, increasingly automated, advanced driver assistance technologies, as well as the public’s possible distrust and reluctance to use them. This thesis contributes to the discussion by offering a cultural analysis of car safety. The analysis delves into who and what are involved in making a safe car, from the driver’s perspective, and is based on qualitative research carried out between September 2015 and January 2016 as part of an internship with Volvo Cars. Semi-structured interviews and observations conducted with drivers, both in-person and online, produced data that was... (More)
As the era of self-driving cars approaches, there is extensive discussion in the media about the next generation of vehicles: the potential safety benefits offered by new, increasingly automated, advanced driver assistance technologies, as well as the public’s possible distrust and reluctance to use them. This thesis contributes to the discussion by offering a cultural analysis of car safety. The analysis delves into who and what are involved in making a safe car, from the driver’s perspective, and is based on qualitative research carried out between September 2015 and January 2016 as part of an internship with Volvo Cars. Semi-structured interviews and observations conducted with drivers, both in-person and online, produced data that was then analyzed by employing the theoretical perspectives of actor-network theory and the conceptualization of trust as a reducer of social complexity. The analysis offers an understanding of car safety that involves two interrelated actor-networks—1) that of vehicle safety and 2) that of driving safety—that are populated by diverse human and non-human actors who enact car safety by performing trusting relationships. This finding offers automakers and public safety organizations knowledge to be used whenever introducing new and unfamiliar automated vehicle technologies. By taking into consideration that safe cars are enacted by vehicle- and driving safety actor-networks that necessarily involve trust, permits further considerations for how actor-networks might also be established to enact safe self-driving cars. (Less)
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author
Tong, Jennifer LU
supervisor
organization
course
TKAM02 20161
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
self-driving car, advanced driver assistance systems, drivers, driving safety, car safety, vehicle safety, cultural analysis, actor-network theory, trust, MACA
language
English
id
8894338
date added to LUP
2016-11-08 11:19:06
date last changed
2016-11-08 11:19:06
@misc{8894338,
  abstract     = {{As the era of self-driving cars approaches, there is extensive discussion in the media about the next generation of vehicles: the potential safety benefits offered by new, increasingly automated, advanced driver assistance technologies, as well as the public’s possible distrust and reluctance to use them. This thesis contributes to the discussion by offering a cultural analysis of car safety. The analysis delves into who and what are involved in making a safe car, from the driver’s perspective, and is based on qualitative research carried out between September 2015 and January 2016 as part of an internship with Volvo Cars. Semi-structured interviews and observations conducted with drivers, both in-person and online, produced data that was then analyzed by employing the theoretical perspectives of actor-network theory and the conceptualization of trust as a reducer of social complexity. The analysis offers an understanding of car safety that involves two interrelated actor-networks—1) that of vehicle safety and 2) that of driving safety—that are populated by diverse human and non-human actors who enact car safety by performing trusting relationships. This finding offers automakers and public safety organizations knowledge to be used whenever introducing new and unfamiliar automated vehicle technologies. By taking into consideration that safe cars are enacted by vehicle- and driving safety actor-networks that necessarily involve trust, permits further considerations for how actor-networks might also be established to enact safe self-driving cars.}},
  author       = {{Tong, Jennifer}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Do you trust your car? Enacting car safety}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}