A study done by J.D. Power and Associates found that 82 percent of car owners with smartphones have an interest in an in-vehicle device/application link to connect their smartphone to their vehicle's infotainment system. That's up from the 78 percent in the 2012 U.S. Automotive Emerging Technologies Study.
 

  Here's a question for the 82 percent, from those of us in the 18 percent: Why not wait to text, check e-mails or whatever else you want to do with your smartphone either until you are parked or until you get to your destination?

  It's just a matter of time before we are cruising down the road with nobody at the wheel. Whether you call it the driverless car, the self-driving car, or autonomous driving, it will be here sooner than most of us expect.
  A recent Cisco Systems survey of 1,500 people in 10 countries indicates most of us would be likely to ride in a car controlled entirely by technology that does not require a human driver. Sixty percent of Americans surveyed said they would trust a driverless car.
 

  Google has been making headlines for its driverless car, which already has logged more than 300,000 miles in California with just one accident. Google's self-driving car, a Prius hybrid, can merge onto highways, pass slower vehicles, and pass safely through intersections with no stoplights.

  The practicality of a completely driverless car requiring little to no human involvement is still far off in the future. That will give lawmakers and insurance underwriters a decade or so to formulate legislation and insurance policies governing responsibility and liability. Whose fault is it when there's an accident and nobody's at the wheel?

Articles by Cheryl Jensen and Evelyn Kanter, Motor Matters 

contact: info@motormatters.biz

Copyright, Motor Matters, 2013