Drink driving could increase due to autonomous vehicles: Morgan Stanley
Alcohol sales could increase by $100bn per year by 2025 due to the increased availability of autonomous cars, according to research by Morgan Stanley. The study estimates that drivers will consume a minimum of one extra drink each week as a result of using self-driving vehicles. This is expected to be higher for residents of cities. The data is based on the assumption that laws will permit drivers of autonomous vehicles to be drunk. However, legislation relating to such vehicles is still being debated in the US and Europe, and may well result in blood-alcohol limits for drivers.

The advent of autonomous cars will have a direct and proportional increase on alcohol consumption in developed nations as motorists decide to have one more drink before driving.

According to a new study by Morgan Stanley, a global financial services company, alcohol sales could increase by $100 billion per annum by 2025 as motorists worry less about drink-driving.

"Shared and autonomous vehicle technology help address the mutual exclusivity of drinking and driving in a way that can significantly enhance the growth rate of the alcohol market and on-trade sales at restaurants," said the research paper.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley predict the advent of self-driving cars will see consumers imbibing – at the very least – one extra standard drink per week. And it could be even higher for those in cities.

"Would be drivers who reside in cities where shared mobility is well penetrated are likely to consume more than 1 additional drink per week, in our view," states the research paper.