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Safety-focused Volvo has set 2020 as the deadline for manufacturing ‘uncrashable’ cars putting an end to death and injury on the roads. Maurice Glover reports...
Jan Ivarsson, head of Volvo Car Corporation safety strategy
Advanced safety systems are being developed to allow future generation passenger cars to guarantee their occupants against death or injury from road accidents.
Research work on the life-saving equipment has started at Volvo under a Swedish government plan to achieve zero road fatalities and the manufacturer – a pacesetter in safer motoring for the last half century – is aiming to offer the ultimate in crash protection in just 11 years’ time.
Suffer
Jan Ivarsson, head of Volvo Car Corporation safety strategy, said: “No-one should suffer from accidents in the cars we produce after 2020 and we are making a strong effort to achieve that goal. But we will not be able to reach our target without the support of others – we need to know how the authorities intend to treat the future from an environmental perspective and what sort of roads our cars will be used on.”
Speaking at his office in Gothenburg only days after Volvo executives signed a letter of intent with the Swedish Road Administration to work together on research projects aimed at improving road architecture and the nation’s road network, Mr Ivarsson told RoadSafe: “The co-operation of all parties is vital to the success of injury-free travel in the future.”
Likely to run for several years, the Swedish experiment will collate data from Volvo’s traffic accident research team with government plans for road projects. Suggestions emerging from studies of the combined data will be analysed by teams of experts supported by the country’s universities and could lead to significant changes being implemented, particularly at high speed intersections.
Asked about Volvo’s own ambitions for the ultimate in safe road travel, Mr Ivarsson said: “Our clear view of the future is to design cars that just don’t crash and the 2020 deadline represents the perspective we have for the nearterm.
“There’s no doubt this is a major challenge for us but it is our clear view of the future. Look back to how things were on the roads 50 years ago – in those days, I’m sure a plan to cut accidents and fatalities would have seemed a strange prediction to make. Yet just consider the impact of all the improvements that have been made over the years...what it all comes down to is stretching the mind. Everything is possible if other stakeholders join us with a common view of the future.”
According to Mr Ivarsson, the XC60 compact sport utility model represents the starting point of the new super-safe technology the company aims to develop. Launched recently as a rival for the Land Rover Freelander and BMW X3 in the premium compact sector, the car’s City Safety equipment package is claimed to make it the safest Volvo model so far (RoadSafe: spring/summer 2008).
Assist
“This equipment will assist drivers in avoiding a collision. It will mitigate in some other situations and reduce the forces involved in crash situations. It is our first step – for the future, there will be other technologies and equipment available that work in the same direction.
“For the moment, City Safety [an auto-brake collision avoidance system] operates in a range of speeds that relate to city driving. For the future, we are looking to address a wider range of road conditions and speeds.
“Our basic idea is to support the people in the car with what I would call good properties and for this you need good restraint systems and a good safety cage.
“We are continuing to work to develop our standards in both these areas. Then we need to support the driver, initially with good information that starts up as soon as he begins to drive the car.
“Our aim is to provide good information on the choice of roads, the destination and traffic intensity – the object of our work is for the driver not to be overstressed. Of course, in the end it all comes down to taking over from the driver when a crash becomes inevitable. I can’t be specific about the technology that is likely to be involved by Volvo, but we are investigating cameras, lasers, radar and other types of support technology.
“In the near future, we plan to introduce safety technologies that make it possible to detect and auto-brake for pedestrians and even auto-steer away from oncoming cars,” he said.
He believes ‘considerable’ safety potential exists in creating communications between cars and infrastructure arrangements that would allow cars to warn each other of traffic jams or poor road conditions.
“Infrastructure sensors could also warn drivers of people or animals crossing the road, but all this requires that the vehicles speak the same ‘language’ regardless of brand, so international standards need to be created.
“I think that as well as challenging ourselves, our new vision also challenges the automotive industry and governments. Safe traffic has three main stakeholders – manufacturers, motorists and the relevant authorities. Creative co-operation between road authorities and the automotive industry is vital for us to achieve solutions that make a big difference,” said Mr Ivarsson.