Patient perceptions on the use of driverless ambulances: An affective perspective

•Increases in technology may lead to auto-piloted ambulances.•However, would patients be willing to ride in such ambulances?•Findings indicate patients less willing to ride in auto-piloted ambulances.•Affect was shown to act as a mediator. Emergency medical transports provide life-saving services to their patients; however, staffing levels in the United States are leading to reduced capabilities or even in extreme situations, an inability to provide ambulance services. As technology continues to increase, driverless vehicles are becoming a reality. It is possible, in the near future, that technology may be able to support an ambulance operated autonomously. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to try and determine patient’s willingness to ride on an ambulance operated autonomously as opposed to one driven by a human. Affect measures were also collected to determine if affect mediated the relationship between willingness to ride and the type of ambulance configuration. Through the use of 3 studies, the findings indicate that patients were less willing to ride in the scenario where the ambulance was operated autonomously than in the traditional configuration, and there was a significant interaction between gender and type of ambulance configuration with females being less willing to ride in the autonomous ambulance than males. Affect was found to act as a mediator between willingness to ride and the type of ambulance. Additionally, through the use of the six universal facial expressions, it was determined that the mediating emotions for males were fear and happiness, and the mediating emotion for females was anger. The authors propose practical implications of these research findings and suggest areas of future research.