AS every week passes there is more talk about the onset of driverless cars.

Our dear old friend the diesel engine has taken an environmental caning and its eventual passing has been set.

But the problem is that that many drivers just do not trust autonomous vehicles.

In fact, millions of Brits are opposed to their introduction because they fear they will crash - and could be too easily hacked.

Research has revealed 44 per cent of motorists are against the space age vehicles hitting the nation's highways.

Almost three-quarters of those questioned feared a malfunction and a similar amount said they didn't trust a computer to keep other drivers safe.

More than half were worried the vehicles could be remotely hacked and 53 per cent worried they are more likely to crash.

But despite widespread apprehension, further analysis shows many can see positives in the introduction of autonomous vehicles.

The majority of drivers believe the driverless car revolution will be a good excuse to get sociable and chat with fellow passengers, while two in five said they would use the time to catch up with friends or colleagues on the phone.

One third felt they'd be able to relax and snap a few photographs of passing scenery, while also catching up on social media.

When it comes to insuring a driverless car, over two in five felt their insurance premiums could sky-rocket, despite the technology's potential to eliminate human error.

Simon McCulloch, director of insurance at comparethemarket.com which conducted the survey, said: "The future of driverless cars is closer than we think and with a nation divided on the benefits they could bring, it's vital any concerns the public might have are addressed before plans for driverless vehicles go into auto-pilot.

"A major point of concern and confusion for motorists is how the arrival of self-driving cars will affect their insurance policies, which is why we created our newly designed driverless car quote journey.

"By seeing how a future policy might work, we hope we can help the debate on what the future could hold for personal transportation and how this could impact insurance policies.

"At comparethemarket.com we want to help our customers learn more about the subject, so they can feel better informed about the pros and cons.''

Working with professor Neville Stanton, an expert on human engineering, comparethemarket.com has ‘future-gazed' to see how completing a quote might look when buying car insurance in the future.

The 'quote journey' is designed to help customers better understand the concept of driverless cars, while also preparing them for when they're introduced to UK roads.