Technological advancements focus on developing comfortable and acceptable driving characteristics in autonomous vehicles. Present driving functions predominantly possess predefined parameters, and there is no universally accepted driving style for autonomous vehicles. Although driving may be technically safe, the passenger might still feel insecure due to a mismatch in driving styles between the human and the autonomous system. Incorporating driving style preferences into automated vehicles enhances acceptance, reduces uncertainty, and poses the opportunity to expedite their adoption. Despite the increased research focus on driving styles, there remains a need for comprehensive studies investigating how variations in the driving context impact the assessment of automated driving functions. Therefore, this work evaluates lateral driving style preferences for autonomous vehicles on rural roads, considering different weather and traffic situations. A controlled study (N = 32) was conducted with a variety of German participants utilizing a high-fidelity driving simulator. The subjects experienced four different driving styles, including mimicking of their own driving behavior under two weather conditions. A notable preference for the more passive driving style became evident based on statistical analyses of participants' responses during and after the drives. A low curve-cutting gradient, moderate lateral and longitudinal acceleration constraints, and a pronounced reaction to oncoming traffic characterize this style. This study could not confirm the hypothesis that subjects prefer to be driven by mimicking their own driving behavior. Furthermore, the study illustrated that weather conditions and oncoming traffic substantially influence the perceived comfort during autonomous rides.

翻译：技术进步聚焦于开发自动驾驶车辆中舒适且可接受的驾驶特性。当前驾驶功能主要具有预设参数，且对于自动驾驶车辆而言，尚无普遍接受的驾驶风格。尽管驾驶在技术上是安全的，但由于人类与自动驾驶系统之间驾驶风格的不匹配，乘客仍可能感到不安。将驾驶风格偏好融入自动驾驶车辆可提升接受度，减少不确定性，并为其普及提供契机。尽管对驾驶风格的研究日益增多，但仍需开展全面研究，探讨驾驶情境变化如何影响自动驾驶功能的评估。因此，本研究在考虑不同天气和交通状况下，评估乡村道路上自动驾驶车辆的横向驾驶风格偏好。通过高保真驾驶模拟器，对32名德国被试进行了一项控制实验。被试体验了四种不同驾驶风格，包括在两种天气条件下模仿其自身驾驶行为。基于驾驶过程中及驾驶后被试反应的统计分析，被动型驾驶风格表现出明显的偏好。该风格具有低弯道切入梯度、适中的横向与纵向加速度限制，以及对迎面来车的显著反应特征。本研究未能证实被试偏好以模仿自身驾驶行为进行驾驶的假设。此外，研究还表明，天气状况和迎面来车显著影响自动驾驶过程中的感知舒适度。