Autonomous vehicles and road transportation safety

Road transportation the final step of all transportation modes in the logistics field. With the development of technology, people are dissatisfied with traditional vehicles, especially when the annual traffic accident rates maintain a stable level. The main reasons for traffic accidents have been analyzed and published by official road safety administrations, such as the European Commission, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Interna-tional Road Transport Union and other organizations. However, they still do not have ef-fective solutions for reducing the traffic accident rates. Autonomous vehicle technology combined with traditional vehicles could provide one opportunity for reducing traffic acci-dents. The objective of the study was to explain how autonomous vehicles could possibly change the current road transportation safety. Moreover, it examined the public opinions on and the expected benefits of autonomous vehicles and attempted to answer the question why autonomous vehicles could be safer than traditional vehicles. In order to achieve the objectives, this study combined the qualitative and desk research methods. All the data was collected from previous studies, journal articles, literature and specialist statements. According to the results, autonomous vehicles are safer than traditional vehicles theoreti-cally. However, autonomous vehicles are not widely used yet. The public have positive atti-tudes towards autonomous vehicle development. Safety and environment were the main expected benefits from autonomous vehicles. For now, the required technologies are still under testing. They need to be reliable before be used commercially