Certain kinds of autonomous vehicles may not be safe, especially in an emergency situation, according to a new study published by the Lords Science and Technology Committee on Wednesday. With driverless technology, drivers may become over-reliant and complacent. However, with the development in the automotive technology over time, accidents by human error may be significantly reduced -- but they just might increase before they do. The committee also reported people may use driverless cars for shorter distances, as well, causing laziness and may prevent them from "getting exercise by walking." The UK Economic Opportunity split vehicles into levels from 0 to 5. Zero was fully controlled by an individual, and five was completely automated. According to peers on the committee, there was a "very dangerous" problem with vehicles reaching the middle of the scale, BBC News reported.

Drivers heading home for the holidays may be tempted to avoid Tesla vehicles this year, especially on icy roads, as the automaker plans to roll out its self-driving feature late next month. But there appears to be some confusion surrounding the technology's actual capabilities. After his company announced on Oct. 19 that all of its models made after that date would be equipped with self-driving hardware, Tesla founder and chief executive Elon Musk confirmed over the weekend that the automaker would "incrementally" activate the technology in "about three weeks." The rollout of the "Enhanced Autopilot" feature comes less than six months after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a preliminary investigation into the automated system to see whether it led to the fatal Florida crash of a 2015 Model S in May. The investigation prompted watchdog and advocacy organization Consumer Reports to urge Tesla to disable the software and "require drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel."

Days after German regulators asked Tesla Motors to stop branding their vehicles as having "Autopilot" driver assistance systems, Dutch officials are concerned with the labeling, Reuters reported Monday. However, it is unclear whether they will also ask the automaker to rename the service. German officials raised their concerns with the naming over the weekend, saying in a letter to the automaker that, in "order to prevent misunderstanding and incorrect customers' expectations, we demand that the misleading term'autopilot' is no longer used in advertising the system." The German transport ministry also wrote a letter to Tesla owners to remind them to remain vigilant and attentive even while using the autopilot feature. "Tesla's autopilot operates in conjunction with the human driver to make driving safer and less stressful. This is how the term has been used for decades in aerospace: to denote a support system that operates under the direct supervision of a human pilot," a Tesla spokesperson later told Ars Technica.