Car steers itself through gridlock

Volvo plans to introduce a new traffic jam assistance system to its production lineup some time in 2014, the automaker announced recently.

The system would control the car's brakes, gas and steering in slow-moving traffic at speeds up to 50 km/h (31 mph), reports AutoBlog.

The traffic jam assist will use radar and sensors already built into Volvo vehicles, the ones that make the automaker's City Safety and Pedestrian Detection technologies work.

Volvo isn't the only automaker aiming to bring traffic jam assist to market in the near future; Audi and Mercedes-Benz may both introduce similar self-driving technologies in their production cars as early as next year.

The systems are designed to help commuters deal with the stress of slow-speed gridlock, so we're sure the people driving some of the world's worst commutes will appreciate it.



(Volvo and YouTube via AutoBlog)