An interesting study has concluded that self-driving cars will lead to passengers having more sex in the car, and could eventually turn out to be the go-to option for ‘sex for hire’ as well. Although it sounds a little hysterical for now, this could affect urban tourism a lot more than you might think.

What Does The Study Say?

The study, published in the journal titled ‘Annals of Tourism Research,’ focused on the effects that could take place with the deployment of autonomous vehicles on roads. One of the aspects of the study was the impact that self-driving cars will have on sex. Now, given the lack of need to pay attention to the road and the privacy passengers get, one can expect this number to boom more than ever. The study also says that quickies between couples in vehicles could escalate, even in fleet vehicles that are not personally owned by the passengers. Even though the surveillance systems will be present in autonomous vehicles maintained by service providers like Waymo, it will be easy to disengage the “Big Brother’s eye” for the sake of privacy.

Would You Prefer Bucket Seats or a Flat-Bench?

Apart from one-on-one (pun intended) interaction, this could boost B2C services as well; meaning, it would allow sex workers to deal with clients without having to stick to red light areas. They could, instead, roam around urban areas. This would make law enforcement more difficult in places where prostitution is illegal, and regulating the whole thing would also get tougher where it is legal. This would also adversely affect the business of hotels where rooms are offered on hourly basis for the recreational activity. Looks like ‘Take it Easy’ by Eagles just got real!!

What They Had To Say

Speaking to NBC News, Scott Cohen, the study’s leader, said, “Sex is a part of urban tourism, and commercialized sex is part of that too, so it is quite likely that autonomous vehicles will lead to prostitution, whether legal or illegal, to take place in moving autonomous vehicles in the future".

Final Thoughts

However, researchers don’t see this happening for the next 30 years at least. Recently, Apple’s co-founder, Steve Wozniak expressed his disbelief whether autonomous cars are even possible. Well, every person has the right to his/her opinion and we don’t question that here, but this study has definitely intrigued us. What are your thoughts on it? Share them with us in the comments section below.

Further reading

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