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OTTAWA — Federal bureaucrats are raising concerns about distracted driving in semi-autonomous cars that don’t require much input from the driver.

And at least one expert is anticipating that, as the so-called ’smart’ cars get smarter, there will eventually be an increase in an unusual form of distracted driving: hanky-panky behind the wheel.

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“I am predicting that, once computers are doing the driving, there will be a lot more sex in cars,” said Barrie Kirk of the Canadian Automated Vehicles Centre of Excellence.

“That’s one of several things people will do which will inhibit their ability to respond quickly when the computer says to the human, ’Take over.”’

Federal officials, who have been tasked with building a regulatory framework to govern driverless cars, highlighted their concerns in briefing notes compiled for Transport Minister Marc Garneau soon after he took on the portfolio last fall.