Supplementary file 1_Goodness behind a wheel: moral judgment in realistic traffic simulations featuring Agents, Deeds, and Consequences.docx

The results show that participants' moral judgments were consistently and strongly influenced by the character of the agent, whereas the effects of rule compliance and consequences were less robust. The mode of presentation (textual vs. audio-visual) significantly moderated these effects in mixed ways, suggesting that different formats may be better suited to conveying specific types of moral information. Notably, Study 1 revealed that expert ethicists tended to converge in their evaluations of low-stakes traffic scenarios, despite endorsing different moral theories.

This convergence supports the feasibility of designing AV decision-making algorithms based on shared ethical judgments. Furthermore, the findings highlight that character-based considerations play a significant role in moral judgment of traffic scenarios—alongside deontological and consequentialist reasoning.</p>