Self-Driving Cars Will Lead to Less DUI and More Alcohol Sales

Mercedes Benz Self Driving Car

    In an article in the Huffington Post, a prediction that self-driving cars might first of all cut down the number of drunk drivers on the road, but might in fact lead to more drinking overall.   This is an interesting concept, but I really question the validity of the overall research.  It is a "Utopian" idea, but the majority of the people that get drunk driving citations cant afford the high priced cars that will have this self-driving capability.  It would be great it it would truly happen, I can only see one way for this to happen and that would be to outlaw all people driven cars.

MORGAN STANLEY RESEARCH 

     Of course, the prediction that more self-driving cars will equal higher sales of alcohol is at least loosely based on the assumption that the type of person who drinks and drives is also the type of person who goes for the safer alternative when it’s available.   Sadly, a report published late last month in the American Journal of Epidemiology indicates that may not necessarily be the case.   The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California and Oxford University, found that ride-hailing services like Uber have had little to no effect on decreasing drunk-driving deaths, a conclusion that contradicts Uber's own research on the matter.

Nissan Self -Driving Car

     Morgan Stanley estimates that if, as a result of self-driving cars, each member of the global drinking population consumes just one more drink per month, the global market could expand by an estimated $31 billion. If we assume that each person in that group has two additional drinks per week, then ― health care costs aside ― the total market could grow by an estimated $250 billion:

Read More at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/self-driving-car-alcohol-sales_us_579f7c43e4b0e2e15eb68a8c