Volvo testing self-driving cars

Volvo has been showing off the technology that will allow its cars to drive themselves.

The company is putting together a major project in its hometown of Gothenburg in Sweden called Drive Me. As part of the programme, 50km of roads will be turned into self-driving areas and 100 XC90 SUVs will be handed out to families and commuters in the area to test.

When the 'IntelliSafe Auto Pilot' detects that it's coming up to a self-driving area, it will flash some lights to let the driver know. Then, to activate the 'robot' driver, the human driver pulls both of the steering-wheel-mounted gearshift paddles at the same time. When coming to the end of the self-driving area, the car will give the driver a 60-second countdown to take control again, and will bring the car to a halt if the driver doesn't do so.

Thomas Ingenlath, Senior Vice President of Design at Volvo Cars, said: "We have designed a user interface that is safe and seamless to use so that drivers can confidently transfer and regain control of the car."

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