Volvo Introduces New Safety Features

With figures by NHTSA showing that in the US, almost 30% of all traffic fatalities in vehicles in 2017 involved intoxicated drivers, Volvo Cars is looking to address the issues of intoxication and distraction by installing in-car cameras and other sensors that monitor the driver.

The cameras and sensors will allow the car to intervene if a “clearly intoxicated or distracted driver” does not respond to warning signals and is risking an accident involving serious injury or death. Examples of such behavior include a complete lack of steering input for extended periods of time, drivers who are detected to have their eyes closed or off the road for extended periods of time, as well as extreme weaving across lanes or excessively slow reaction times. If needed, the intervention could involve limiting the car’s speed, alerting the Volvo on Call assistance service and, as a final course of action, actively slowing down and safely parking the car.

The automaker is also announcing a speeding limit of 180 kph, along with the Care Key, which allows Volvo drivers to impose limitations on the car’s top speed on all cars from model year 2021, before lending their car to others.

“When it comes to safety, our aim is to avoid accidents altogether rather than limit the impact when an accident is imminent and unavoidable. In this case, cameras will monitor for behavior that may lead to serious injury or death.” – SVP, Research & Development at Volvo Cars, Henrik Green.