There's no stopping autonomous vehicles or self-driving cars from taking over the world of the future.

And it'll also be good news for that soon to be extinct working class of human being called the driver.

We'll all be passengers in self-driving cars and this is a good thing, says a lot of research on the pros and cons of these vehicles. Research by McKinsey & Company said self-driving cars might restore 50 minutes a day to erstwhile drivers, who could then use this time as a passenger to do other things like relax, work on the internet or shop on the internet.

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The study said the addition of just 50 more minutes could generate an additional $5.6 billion every year in digital sales. That's good for companies and the consumer, as well.

"People will be able to shop for services or products from their mobile devices or from embedded systems in the vehicle," said Hans-Werner Kaas, senior partner and head of McKinsey's automotive practice.

Erstwhile drivers will save money in the form of regained time as they work instead of drive. Self-driving cars will likely have fewer accidents based on the results of extensive trials being conducted in the U.S.

For example, Google's fleet of self-driving cars has logged more than 700,000 miles without causing an accident. Volvo plans to eliminate deaths and serious injuries in its cars by 2020.

McKinsey predicts a 90 percent drop in crashes and estimates the savings on repair and health care bills alone at $180 billion in the U.S.

McKinsey believes self-driving cars will be introduced in three phases. Phase One, which will last until 2020, will see a limited impact of autonomous technology still in the trial stages.

Phase Two will see autonomous vehicles experiencing growing pains between 2020 and 2035 as the technology begins entering the mainstream. This will compel regulators around the world to craft rules regarding how these cars are developed, tested, approved and licensed.

Phase Three will come after 2040 and this will be the point where autonomous cars become our primary means of transportation.