Driverless cars could pose a significant safety risk because humans are often not ready to take over when the computer cannot cope, a study suggests.
Academics carrying out the first study into handovers from automated control said that motorists often had poor control when asked to take on driving duties mid-journey, veering across lanes and picking up speed.
They said that drivers rapidly gained “high levels of trust” in autonomous vehicles, with many using their phones, reading books, working on laptops or even sleeping if given a break from driving. They took an average of 20 seconds to put their hands on steering wheels when asked to do so by the vehicle and some took as long as a minute.
Tests also found that motorists’