Volkswagen uses customer data to enhance road safety in Europe
Volkswagen expands a European project where cars share anonymous data from safety events to improve driver assistance systems, benefiting all customers through updates.
Volkswagen is expanding a European project that turns customer vehicles into data sources for improving driver assistance systems. Italy has become one of the countries where the brand's cars can directly contribute to enhancing road safety.
The project's concept is straightforward: if a car brakes sharply or swerves to avoid an obstacle, it can send anonymous data to engineers. Situations like a pedestrian suddenly stepping into the road or a cyclist getting too close help the system "learn" and respond faster in the future. Participation is entirely voluntary, with owners able to give or withdraw consent at any time.
Data isn't collected continuously, only during safety-critical events such as emergency braking, sudden maneuvers, or complete stops. The analysis includes camera images, sensor signals, speed, steering angle, and environmental conditions.
The project already operates in Germany and now covers about 40 European countries. Other brands in the group—Audi, Porsche, Skoda, and Cupra—will join later. The benefits will extend to all customers through software updates, creating a collective intelligence across the fleet.
This approach accelerates the evolution of ADAS systems by leveraging real-world road situations, not just lab tests. Volkswagen emphasizes compliance with European data protection requirements and the absence of personal information transfer.