In the past few decades, cars have become more and more like mobile offices, thanks to the ability to take and make telephone calls and receive text messages while on the move. There are, of course, a number of restrictions in place for safety reasons. Although many cars are now connected to the web, it is not usually possible to browse the internet while driving.

However, this is set to change in the not too distant future. All the major manufacturers, alongside tech giants such as Apple and Google and companies such as Uber and Lyft, are all in the race to be the first to bring fully self-driving vehicles to the roads. Here are some of the ways this is likely to change the world of business.

Even greater productivity on the move

One concept vehicle designed by Mercedes-Benz turns a car into something far more than a method of getting from A to B. The seats inside are able to swivel so that the passengers can face one another and a series of touchscreen inside the vehicle make it possible to be entertained during a journey or, even more importantly, work.

The belief is that in the future, cars will double as conference rooms and, thanks to high-speed mobile internet, that employees will be able to be just as productive during their commute as they are in the office. Such innovations would also allow employees to live further away from the place they work in. Rather than facing an exhausting drive through morning traffic, it would be possible to stretch out, take a nap, and be woken only when you arrive at the steps to your office building.

Increased opportunities for profit

At present, most vehicles are idle 90 percent of the time. Unless your job involves constant travel around this country, as would be the case for a sales rep, this is equally likely to be true if you own a company car. However, with self-driving cars, companies and individuals will be able to send their cars out for the day while they are working to act as autonomous mini-cabs, picking up passengers and dropping them off at points in the city, returning just in time to collect you from the office as you finish work.

If you own the car yourself, this could form an additional source of income for you while in the case of company cars, the money will help boost overall profits.

Simplified accident claims

At present, in the event of being involved in a crash that was not your fault, one of the first things you need to do is to find a car accident lawyer who can help you or your employees make a claim and secure any compensation that is due to you. This will still be the case with autonomous vehicles but because they will have far more information about the circumstances surrounding the crash establishing fault will be far more straightforward.

Although autonomous cars are theoretically less likely to be involved in a crash, studies show that until the majority of vehicles on the roads are autonomous, the number of accidents is likely to remain stable and congestion may actually get worse. This is because most accidents are the result of human error. A driver who is failing to pay attention may make an unpredictable maneuver that causes an accident, and while the autonomous vehicle will do its best to avoid such an incident, other drivers in the vicinity may not be so lucky.