More than 50 cars with a variety of self-driving systems will travel in convoy on the A2 motorway between Amsterdam and the village of Beesd in March.

The 120-kilometre drive has been organised by risk management group Aon together with civil engineering group HaskoningDVC and a lease car company. The cars making the journey include BMWs, Hyundais, Mercedes, Teslas, Toyotas and Volvos.

The aim is to identify the ‘advantages and risks’ of highly-autonomous cars, Aon spokesman Evert-Jeen van der Meer told website Automobiel Management. The cars will make the trip during the day, in the middle of ordinary traffic.

Systems

The cars in question are fitted with adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assistance systems and blind spot monitoring. The test will also show whether these systems contribute to better traffic flows and safer driving, the website said.

The companies working on the project have been testing the cars on a circuit in Lelystad since October last year.

During the trials, the cars travelled in convoy and the driver left decisions about when to accelerate or break up to the cars themselves.

Steering wheel

Last October, Dutch road safety organisation VVN said it is concerned that motorists with the new Tesla Model S, which can be fitted with a self-driving system, will be tempted to take their hands off the wheel.

The package includes an ‘auto steerage’ system which automatically keeps a car in a lane and away from the vehicle in front. The car can also park itself, change lanes and warn about blind corners.

In January, trials of the driverless WEpod shuttle buses began in Wageningen on the university campus roads. The buses, which have no steering wheel or pedals, are electric and have a maximum speed of 25 kph.

If the campus trials are a success, in June the shuttles will begin to use public roads, travelling a pre-programmed route between Bennekom and the Ede-Wageningen railway station.