Volvo is one of the manufacturers at the forefront of automotive safety and autonomous driving, so much so, that it’s now being held back by inconsistent legislation.

For the US market, it’s now urging officials to draft up some clear autonomous car guidelines and laws for the entire nation, otherwise it says the country could lose its global lead in the field.

The message comes straight from Volvo’s president and chief executive, Hakan Samuelsson. He said “The US risks losing its leading position due to the lack of Federal guidelines for the testing and certification of autonomous vehicles. Europe has suffered to some extent by having a patchwork of rules and regulations. It would be a shame if the US took a similar path to Europe in this crucial area.”

Volvo is also prepared to make a commitment to take full responsibility for what its cars do in autonomous mode, once these are legally allowed to drive the US road network.

Mr. Samuelsson made this promise public at the seminar called “A Future with Self Driving Cars – Is it Safe?” which took place at the House of Sweden in Washington DC.

Also, in regards to the problem of security and hacking, he said “we are constantly evolving defensive software to counter the risks associated with hacking a car. We do not blame Apple, or Microsoft for computer viruses or hackers.”

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