In what would be the biggest trial for the automaker, Volvo Cars has announced that it is all set to commence its ambitious autonomous driving trial on London public roads in 2017. The autonomous driving trial will be called 'Drive Me London' and will be using real families driving real autonomous cars on public roads starting next year. This is the automaker's second such program launched globally, after it announced a similar program for China earlier this month.



Volvo President and CEO Hakan Samuelsson said, "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."

(Volvo Autonomous Driving)

Drive me London will commence in early 2017 but with a restricted number of semi-autonomous vehicles, while a larger setup will be seen in 2018 that will include up to 100 autonomous cars. The program, by far, will be the biggest and extensive autonomous driving testing program is the UK and will see real families driving the future cars on public roads. Volvo will source its data from these everyday users and use this data to develop AD cars that are suitable for real world driving conditions, instead of relying on the data sourced from unrealistic conditions found on test tracks. Thatcham Research will be providing the technical data analysis and any professional test drivers needed as part of the trial.As per the results found by independent research, autonomous driving has the potential to reduce car accidents by up to 30 per cent. In contrast, the research suggests that up to 90 per cent of all accidents are currently being caused by driver error. With autonomous driving in place, human error behind the wheel will reduce significantly. Volvo says that the introducing of autonomous driving will help revolutionize Britain's roads in four main areas - safety, congestion, pollution and time saving.

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