Volvo to trial autonomous driving system in the UK next year

Swedish car manufacturer Volvo Cars plans to  trial an ambitious autonomous driving (AD) system in the UK next year, which would represent the "largest and most extensive AD testing programme on Britain's streets".

Volvo's 'Drive me London' scheme would be among the first trials of its kind to have real families driving AD vehicles on public roads.

The trial formed part of Volvo's overarching commitment to ensure that "no person is killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car by 2020". The carmaker's UK-based test - called 'Drive me London' would commence in 2017 with a limited number of semi-autonomous driving cars and expand in 2018 to 100 self-driving cars.

As it was among the first trials of its kind to have real families driving AD vehicles on public roads, Volvo hoped the experience of everyday journeys would provide vital data for development of AD vehicles that were suited to real-world driving conditions.

Volvo Cars president and chief executive Håkan Samuelsson said, "Autonomous driving represents a leap forward in car safety, edie.net reported. "The sooner AD cars are on the roads, the sooner lives will start being saved. There are multiple benefits to AD cars. That is why governments globally need to put in place the legislation and infrastructure to allow AD cars onto the streets as soon as possible. The car industry cannot do it all by itself. We need governmental help."

The trials would use adapted versions of Volvo's XC90 sport utility vehicle for the trials, which would be fitted with additional computer systems, cameras and sensors to enable them to carry out steering, lane changes, acceleration and braking without driver control.

Volvo would analyse data from the scheme to help it develop AD cars but the car maker had not yet confirmed which parts of the capital would be used for the trial.