Volvo will pay for damage caused by driverless cars

Ahead of a major trial of autonomous vehicle on public roads in Sweden comes news that Volvo will take responsibility for damage caused by its driverless cars.

In 2017, 100 drivers in the Swedish city of Gothenburg will each receive a Volvo XC90 which has the capability to drive itself. Volvo will not be the first car maker to have tested driverless vehicles on public roads, but it will be the largest scale test of autonomous car tech. The automotive industry recognises that driverless technology represents a lifeline for the car in the crowded mega cities of the future. Unless road user charging prices a significant proportion of us off the roads over the next two decades, there will not be room for anything other than driverless cars.

| driverless technology represents a lifeline for the car...

Ahead of the the trials, 10,000 motorists were asked for their views on driverless cars. See if your own views tally at futureofdriving.com

As revealed by the questionnaire, where driverless cars are concerned, drivers' attitudes lag behind this rapidly emerging technology.

Would you give up your steering wheel?

Autonomous cars can be broadly divided into two camps. Will the current concept of private car ownership give way to networked public service vehicles that can be hailed like a cab, or will autonomous cars become private luxury retreats on wheels? The autonomous XC90 falls firmly into the second group. When automated driving mode is engaged, the driver's seat moves back and transforms itself into a cabin space that wouldn't look out of place in the business section of a transatlantic jet. It appears this approach seems best suited to today's drivers, when asked whether they'd feel comfortable in an autonomous car without a steering wheel, only 41 per cent agree.

Car makers, responsibility and driverless crashes

Driverless cars represents a massive cultural shift for motorists. when you fly take a flight, much of which will be under the control of a computer, you expect the airline to assume full responsibility and the same will be the case with cars. According to Volvo president Håkan Samuelsson, “Volvo will accept full liability for our cars when driven in autonomous mode. We are one of the first car makers in the world to make such a promise”. Over 80 per cent of motorists today believe this should be so. Volvo has made much of its Vision Zero - an aim that no one is killed in its cars. This is a world away from the goal of having no one killed by a Volvo - an aim that can only be achieved by the use of driverless car technology.

Bad habits are hard to break

Autonomous vehicles promise safer and more efficient roads, but some their advantages are harder to imagine. In the survey, 73 per cent of respondents believe that autonomous vehicles should be permitted to break the speed limit. Driverless cars will not be capable of breaking the law - particularly since their manufacturers will have responsibility for the consequences of crashes. However, these vehicles herald a more efficient road network. Not only will they make better use of road space, but their proponents promise that drivers' time will be more productive.

Rather than getting stressed, time behind the wheel can be traded for sleep or time online watching film or catching up with work. With regards to speed limits on motorways, it is feasible that a fleet of autonomous vehicles would be permitted by law to travel significantly faster than 70 mph.

Autonomous cars and bad drivers

| Computers are not hampered by emotions, fatigue or the need to text behind the wheel. There is little doubt that they will crash less as a result.

Most motorists consider themselves to be good drivers so it's perhaps unsurprising that only 60 per cent believe that an autonomous car would protect them from bad drivers. While it's true that the safety benefits of driverless cars is diminished if there are conventional cars on the roads, computers are not hampered by emotions, fatigue or the need to text behind the wheel. There is little doubt that they will crash less as a result.

Driverless cars. Safer, but for who?

| If road user charging risks a gentrification of the roads, driverless car technology promises an alternative form of deference; the car may once have been king, but autonomous vehicles will yield to vulnerable road users

When asked whether in the event of an impending collision, an autonomous car should always prioritise the safety of its occupants, only 11 per cent disagree. It's understandable that users of the new technology should want to feel safe at all times, but it's a fact that driverless cars will be hard wired to avoid vulnerable road users so the question raises possible ethical dilemmas.

Efficiency might well be the primary driver behind autonomous vehicle technology, but the potentially transformative reduction in road danger that it heralds is no less significant. If road user charging risks a gentrification of the roads, driverless car technology promises an alternative form of deference; the car may once have been king, but autonomous vehicles will yield to vulnerable road users.

How to deal with the congestion that threatens to cripple road network? By 2050, the UN expects the global urban population to be 6.3 billion – the same size as the world’s total population was in 2004. Quite apart from the demand on natural resources, there is unlikely to be the road space to cope with this explosive level of growth. Much is at stake - not least the pride of the car industry. 62 per cent of respondents believe that a car maker, not a tech company, will make autonomous cars a reality. Google and Apple have other ideas.

The ethical choice

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