Volvo's Latest Safety Obsession Is A Must-Have

[The Ouzo]

Volvo's Latest Safety Obsession Is A Must-Have

9 HOURS AGO BY MARTIN BIGG  VIDEO 

The aim is to improve an aspect of car safety you probably haven't considered.

Volvo has been testing several industry-first car safety systems lately. Recently, the automaker announced plans to limit the top speed of its new models to 110 MPH from 2020 and implement technology that can detect if a driver is drunk or drowsy. It's all part of the automaker's wider goal to make all its cars death proof by 2020. Now, the Swedish automaker wants to further protect cyclists in accidents involving cars and bikes.

Volvo has teamed up with POC, a leading Swedish sports and safety brand, to conduct a series of world-first crash tests of bike helmets against cars as part of a new research project that aims offer further protection to cyclists. Accidents between bikes and vehicles can often lead to serious injury or death, but Volvo wants to prevent these types of accidents completely with the help of active safety technologies.

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For example, Volvo’s Cyclist detection with full auto brake uses the car’s cameras and radars to detect cyclists, warn the driver of an imminent collision and apply the brakes if further action is needed. It is a development of Volvo Cars’ automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection systems.Volvo’s latest research project consists of a number of specially designed crash tests at the famous Volvo Cars safety research facilities in Gothenburg, Sweden and is "part of a wider research project to understand the types of long-term injuries sustained by cyclists.” During the tests, POC bike helmets are worn by crash dummy heads mounted on a testing rig and are launched towards different areas of the hood of a static Volvo car, at different speeds and angles for various measurements. The tests are based on existing regulatory test procedures for pedestrian head protection, allowing Volvo and POC to make a direct comparison between wearing a helmet and not wearing a helmet.

 

 

Volvo says that Current bike helmet testing procedures are too rudimentary, with helmets being dropped from different heights on either a flat or an angled surface and not taking vehicle to bike accidents into account. Volvo’s research project, on the other hand, aims to further refine and advance such testing. These tests will help POC make its helmets safer and more protective in the event of a car-bike accident and "provide valuable insights and learnings for Volvo Cars into these types of accidents for future development.”

"This project with POC is a good example of our pioneering spirit in safety,” said Malin Ekholm, head of the Volvo Cars Safety Center and one of the company’s leading safety engineers. "We often develop new testing methods for challenging traffic scenarios. Our aim is not only to meet legal requirements or pass rating tests. Instead we go beyond ratings, using real traffic situations to develop technology that further improves safety.”

 

 

[Allrounder]

So in SA the Hijackers will start riding bikes?

 

[worriesnot]

You work for Volvo don't you?

Shameless plug... 

[Dirkitech]

More like a must have for every vehicle driver that isn't riding a bike and cares for the lives of others!

[Taps]

Hope they are not looking for crash test volunteers

[The Ouzo]

You work for Volvo don't you?

Shameless plug... 

I am also a cyclist who has had a family member knocked off his bike by a car.

[coppi]

First world technology will not work here in ZA.........................

[worriesnot]

I am also a cyclist who has had a family member knocked off his bike by a car.

Just pulling your leg... but in all seriousness it is great that a car manufacturer is taking this initiative. As a cyclist it must be uber cool to be associated with such a company 

[Pulse]

First world technology will not work here in ZA.........................

Why won’t this work in ZA?

[sawystertrance]

I've always found it amusing how some car manufacturers spend a fortune on passenger and pedestrian safety and as soon as the vehicle is sold here in SA, the owners whip off the existing equipment and put Bull Bars on the front .  

[The Ouzo]

First world technology will not work here in ZA.........................

The existing Auto Brake works a treat. It doesnt just detect cyclists but cars, pedestrians and large animals too.

Last night I got to experience its full force for the first time. I have experienced the early warning and a bit of the auto braking before, but last night traffic came to a sudden halt, before I could even react the cars hazards went on, brakes were applied and full force and the seat belt tightened around me pulling me back in the seat.

 

I've also had it warning me and start to activate the brakes when a pedestrian has suddenly started walking across the road.

[Allrounder]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tbvz9LhN4o

 

Check at minute 15

[BigDL]

Heard a stat the other day. Apparently, since the “smarter” Volvo XC90 was introduced into the uk in 2004, there has not been a single fatality of the driver or a passenger in one of them. I love our Volvo. Would be hard to buy anything else for my wife and kids to travel in.

[eddy]

Heard a stat the other day. Apparently, since the “smarter” Volvo XC90 was introduced into the uk in 2004, there has not been a single fatality of the driver or a passenger in one of them. I love our Volvo. Would be hard to buy anything else for my wife and kids to travel in.

Nicest car I have owned.

[Tomik]

I'm all for the concept but it wouldn't really be necessary if people actually focused on driving...

[The Ouzo]

Heard a stat the other day. Apparently, since the “smarter” Volvo XC90 was introduced into the uk in 2004, there has not been a single fatality of the driver or a passenger in one of them. I love our Volvo. Would be hard to buy anything else for my wife and kids to travel in.

2015 actually. The new shape XC90.