Almost half of the respondents to a survey (46%) agreed that a driver monitoring system should be required by law in vehicles. The younger the driver, the more likely they believe that these systems make a vehicle safer, according to Autolist.

While 19% said they were unsure, 35% said a monitoring system should not be required by law, indicating that public awareness and acceptance is still emerging.

Examples of these systems include Cadillac's SuperCruise, Tesla's Autopilot, Subaru's DriverFocus, and Audi's Traffic Jam Pilot.

Interestingly, consumers' inclination toward making such systems legal was more for the safety of other vehicles on the road rather than to increase the safety of the vehicle with the technology. For example, 57% of respondents thought a system made the vehicle safer on the road for other cars while just 53% thought a vehicle with a system was itself safer.

Active driver monitoring systems are now only available on a small number of vehicles. Designed to prevent the misuse of advanced driver assistance systems and enhance safety, these systems use optical or infrared cameras to monitor a driver's focus and fatigue.

The respondents were divided about whether these systems make people better drivers with 42% saying they don't and 40% saying they do.

As for the type of technology preferred, younger respondents were more likely to trust passive rather than active systems. Across all age groups, 61% of consumers felt that a passive system was the most effective type.

Finally, the survey examined financial concerns. Despite the safety benefits, car shoppers in Autolist's survey indicated they were reluctant to pay much for the technology. Two-thirds of respondents (66%) said they would not pay more than $500 for such a feature on their next vehicle.

For the study, Autolist surveyed 1,272 current car shoppers in July.