(This year Volvo urges owners to “Go Somewhere,” a bold and daring invitation to go and explore new places and create new experiences. Volvo assures them of an enjoyable journey considering that its cars, with its world-renowned safety, will give them utmost peace of mind.)
MANILA, Philippines—During the waning years of the nineteenth century, cars were considered an oddity. Imagine seeing a floating car today and you will have an idea how people in those days would react seeing these self-propelled carriages (carriages were horse-drawn then) passing them by.
They may be amusing to watch, even enthralling, that is, until they start figuring in accidents.
That exactly what happened in August 1869 in Leinster, Ireland, when a certain Honorable Mrs. Ward was hurled off a steam carriage becoming the world’s first automobile fatality.
In 1891, a single-cylinder gasoline car driven by James William Lambert in Ohio City hit a tree, causing the car to careen out of control and smash into a post. While no fatalities were reported, this incident became the world’s first reported automobile accident.
First and last?
The authorities in those separate instances hoped that these two would be the first and last death or injury in this sort of accident. Little did they know how the world would change over the years.
Today, almost 4,000 people are killed on the world’s roads every day while 20 million to 50 million people sustain non-fatal traffic-related injuries each year.
Considering that safety is one of Volvo’s claims to fame, the Scandinavian carmaker resolved to put an end to all these types of accident.
The company thinks that the next-generation of cars—not just Volvo—will not only be comfortable to the occupants but also one that makes them invincible.
By 2020, the company expects “nobody to be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo,” hoping a confluence of technology will make cars safer and potentially fatality-free.
Road trains
Among the technologies being tested for Vision 2020 program is the “road trains” wherein cars will use adaptive cruise controls to maintain a set distance from each other.
The road trains will take advantage of existing automated systems for maintaining distance, accelerating and decelerating, according to Volvo.
One of these technologies is already installed in the 2011 Volvo S60: Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake that combines radar with a camera to measure the distance and trajectory of moving objects in front.
This radar- and camera-based system can detect pedestrians in front of the car, warn if anyone walks out into its path—and then automatically activate the car’s full braking power if the driver fails to respond in time.
The Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake can avoid a collision with a pedestrian at speeds of up to 35 kph if the driver does not react in time. At higher speeds, the car decelerates significantly so that injury is reduced should impact is inevitable.
But realizing a fatality-free car would still need a new technological infrastructure that can support advanced crash-testing, as well as car-to-car communication.
This car of the near future will not only be built to keep us safe, but they will actively search for dangers by communicating with other cars and with smart road infrastructure, including signs, traffic lights and parking lots.
This will also require a dedicated wireless spectrum as well as agreement about standards among auto brands.