One in four drivers happy to sleep while autonomous car drives

A new study has found that 26 per cent of all drivers trust emerging autonomous technology enough to sleep while their vehicle takes care of the driving duties.

Watching TV and browsing the internet were other activities high up on a list of activities those questioned would enjoy if they had self-driving vehicle, proving consumer confidence of the controversial self-driving tech is rapidly growing.

But it wasn’t all good news for the likes of Tesla’s Autopilot.

According to the research carried out by British car magazine What Car, the majority (51 per cent) of all those quizzed said they would feel ‘unsafe’ or ‘very unsafe’ behind the wheel of a self-driving vehicle.

Some 34 per cent of the survey’s participants even went so far to say they thought the tech was a ’very bad idea’.

Car-makers have voiced concern over consumer acceptance of even semi-autonomous vehicles in the past but following the success of the Tesla’s Autopilot on the Model S, which has been well-received by owners and critics alike, almost every mainstream car-maker is now racing to introduce the self-drive tech.

Already in the UK, half of all new cars sold have some degree of autonomous safety tech on-board, claims What Car.