**5. Conclusion**

This chapter focused on exploring parent opinions and willingness to transport teenagers in AVs independently. Results indicate that parents have varying opinions of transporting their teenagers in AVs. Early adopter status did express more comfort with using the technology, parents would still like their children to learn to drive traditional vehicles. These findings contribute to our understanding of the perceived AV usage, willingness, and adoption [28], as well as, the unique barriers from a family perspective which are largely centered around concerns about the AVs ability to safely transport children [8, 18–20]. Based on the findings, several suggestions for future research can be made. Firstly, an exploration into potential differences between parent's general ratings of AV safety compared to ratings of perceived safety specifically for transporting teenagers. In future iterations of this question, the focus can be shifted away from the idea of delaying one's licensing to using AV as a supplemental tool during more stressful or complex driving scenarios. Also, different ridership scenarios should be considered when a licensed teen is present or absent with younger siblings or other family members. Finally, more exploration is needed into early adoption of AVs specifically, as barriers may differ from general adoption of technology. We believe that these topics are important as we embrace AV technologies and the impact of AV-enhanced mobility on vulnerable road users, such as teenagers.
