Self-Driving Cars Could Make You Vomit

Self-driving cars could be a lot like carnival rides: fun, but they could make you hurl.

Self-driving cars could be a lot like carnival rides: fun, but they could make you hurl.

According to a new study from the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute, 6 to 12 percent of Americans in self-driving cars will experience moderate to severe motion sickness. Nothing like vomiting all over your expensive new ride!

Ever notice that you only get car-sick when you're a passenger in a car and not the driver? There's a reason for that. When what your eyes see doesn't match up with what the rest of your body is feeling, you can suffer from motion sickness. If you don't have your eyes on the road -- and you won't need to if you're in a self-driving car -- you're likely to get sick (usually nauseated). So if you're working or reading or watching TV while sitting in a car, you're much more likely to feel ill.

To figure out how many people are going to get sick in robot cars of the future, researchers asked 3,255 people in different countries what they expect to do when riding in self-driving cars. Though many said they would watch the road, even if they weren't driving, a lot of people expected to read, work and do other hurl-inducing activities:

Americans are the most likely to read in a self-driving car, while people in China are the most likely to text or talk to their friends. People in India are the most likely to work. The one thing they'll all have in common: ruining those fancy new cars with vomit.

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