Volvo chairman calls for caution in move to self driving

 

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"If safety cannot be guaranteed, no automated cars [should be allowed]," Volvo Chairman Li Shufu said.

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BEIJING -- Volvo Cars Chairman Li Shufu says that the autonomous driving industry should move forward prudently in the wake of a deadly accident in the United States this month that has rekindled a debate about safety.

Li, the head of Volvo owner Zhejiang Geely Holding, said that it was important for automakers and governments to look at regulations and what sort of standards were needed to keep people safe.

"One accident can kill the whole industry ... So we must move with caution," Li, who took a $9 billion stake in Daimler last month, said at a Volvo-sponsored event on connected and automated cars here on Wednesday.

He said excessive haste would backfire, and that a single accident could delay progress by as much as a year.

"The accident reminds us that no matter how fast we develop, safety is the No. 1 priority," he said. "If safety cannot be guaranteed, no automated cars [should be allowed]."

The comments come as the global industry reels from a fatal accident in the Tempe, Arizona, involving one of Uber's self-driving Volvo XC90 SUVs. It is the first death attributed to a self-driving car operating in autonomous mode.

Uber has suspended North American tests of its autonomous vehicles after the fatal collision on March 18. Its partner, chipmaker Nvidia, said this week it has also suspended self-driving tests across the globe.

The accident has ramped up pressure on the industry to prove its software and sensors are safe.

Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson says technology is still the most promising answer to reducing car accidents. Photo credit: BLOOMBERG

Promising solution

Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson said accidents were unfortunate and the industry had to move carefully, but that "saying no to technology would be the wrong answer" given human error was also a big factor in many collisions.

"Technology is still the most promising answer to reducing [accidents]," he said at the event in Beijing.

In China, official support for driverless technology remains strong. The government gave its consent to Internet firm Baidu to test self-driving cars on city streets just days after the fatal accident in the United States.

Baidu, which has a self-driving project dubbed Apollo, is leading China's push in driverless technology, with the government keen to keep up with global rivals such as Tesla and Waymo, the self-driving arm of Google parent Alphabet.

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