Many think autonomous vehicles will eliminate distracted driving

Many think autonomous vehicles will eliminate distracted driving

A recent survey of nearly 3,000 U.S. drivers finds that nearly six in 10 believe that self-driving cars will eliminate the problem of distracted driving. Two-thirds of men and 52 percent of women believe that.

The people at Erie Insurance, which commissioned the poll, are concerned. –Current technology is going a long way to keep us safer on the road, but the last thing we want is for people to become overconfident as this technology continues to evolve,” said Cody Cook, vice president and product manager of Erieês auto department.

People are already making plans for what they will do when a human driver is no longer needed. About half of drivers say one of the biggest advantages of self-driving cars would be the ability to go longer distances without worrying about being drowsy while driving.

Other activities they plan to do while operating a self-driving car include texting, sending emails, reading, playing video games and meditating.

The survey also asked drivers to suggest alternative names to –self-driving” or –autonomous” cars to communicate that the driver would still need to pay attention and be ready to take control. Some suggestions: Boy are you lazy; potential disaster car; bad science car; take your chances car; and accidents waiting to happen car.