Figures will rise if no action taken

Since 1970, Volvo has been studying accidents and its accident research team has built up a database with information on more than 36,000 crashes.

More than 100 people work in the company’s Swedish safety centre and pool their resources with hundreds of engineering specialists in universities, supplier companies and at Ford in north America.

However, the need to pinpoint high-tech solutions to help mitigate or avoid accidents has led to fresh investigations of driving scenarios, including driver behaviour.

“We need to learn more about what can lead to hazardous traffic situations. With increasingly advanced technology, we can design cars that help the driver avoid accidents and – hopefully – also avoid exposure to dangerous situations,” said head of safety strategy Jan Ivarsson.

Now the Swedish company that invented the three-point safety belt and introduced it as standard equipment half a century ago has launched a new strategy that includes a broader view of safety than the traditional focus on accidents.

Its research team is looking into the whole journey, from everyday driving to after a collision and has divided the car’s safety functions into five phases:

1. Normal – driver kept informed on driving status and driver concentration;
2. Conflict – driver involved in a potentially hazardous situation but able to cope with it;
3. Avoidance – driver less capable of coping with the situation:
4. Damage reduction – driver and car not capable of avoiding collision. Preparation for collision, reduction of crash forces; and
5. After collision – driver offered assistance and rescue.

“We follow the principle that the driver should always be in command and that the intelligence of the car should support him,” said Mr Ivarsson.

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