Experts are warning that the rise of semi-autonomous cars could lead to couples having sex in moving vehicles.
Officials are understood to have raised their concerns in a briefing to Canada’s Transport Minister Marc Garneau, who has been tasked with building the regulatory framework under which driverless cars operate.
“The issue of the attentive driver is problematic,” said a note contained in a stream of emails about plans for the driverless cars.
“Drivers tend to overestimate the performance of automation and will naturally turn their focus away from the road when they turn on their auto-pilot,” said the note, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
Barrie Kirk of the Canadian Automated Vehicles Centre of Excellence predicted that “once computers are doing the driving, there will be a lot more sex in cars.”
“That’s one of several things people will do which will inhibit their ability to respond quickly when the computer says to the human, ‘Take over,'” he added.
You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at ben@yiannopoulos.net