Posted on October 15, 2008 by Fiona Hilliard

Do you find yourself swerving to avoid an articulated truck while cutting James Blunt off mid-warble or stalling at the lights while trying to decipher whether the Sat Nav lady said “turn left” or “turn right”?

You’re not the only one. According to a new survey carried out by the RAC, nearly half of all UK drivers have admitted to being distracted by in-car technology while driving.

The worst group affected are 17-24 year olds according to the study.  55% of under-25s say they’re distracted by  satnav and mobile phones while 35% lose concentration while fiddling with the heating and air conditioning controls.

Almost 1,034 motorists were surveyed and of these 85% said they thought drivers needed to be taught how to use in-car technology properly.

The study also looked at driver’s predictions for cars over the next decade. It looks like cars are set to outwit humans if these suggestions are anything to go by:

Smart Cars

23% say they believe that ‘robot cars’ will be manufactured with in-built technology that will allow drivers to input an end destination and then sit back and let the car do the work.

Cars on Facebook?

35% believe car manufacturers will embrace social networking technology such as Facebook and Bebo and cars will be able to “talk” to each other and alert against traffic jams.

Nanny Cars

71% of people believe cars will be able to tell you when you are driving over the speed limit, with 50% predicting that cars will have in-built technology to prevent drivers from exceeding speed limits.

Bye-Bye Keys

Up to 60% believe fingerprints, voice recognition and breath recognition will replace keys as the traditional method of starting a car.

What do you think?  What kind of car would you like to see in the future?  Will technology take the fun out of driving?  Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.