Automakers collaborate with technology giants and take innovative steps in driving safe and driverless cars by using artificial intelligence (A.I.), machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), and big data.
Volvo explained its plans for 2020 regarding speed limits, driving safety, and driverless cars to around 80 journalists from all over the world in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars will take various security measures against drivers’ lack of attention due to insomnia or other reasons, as well as drunk driving. With its decision to prevent fatal accidents in 2020 in its new-generation cars, Volvo Cars is taking further steps concerning drunk and distracted driving. Volvo presents the main “gaps” for its future vision of zero fatal traffic accidents, emphasizing the need to focus on human behavior.
A camera monitors drivers.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) figures show that in 2017, in the United States, almost 30 percent of all fatal traffic accidents were caused by drunk driving.
Volvo’s intervention services include limiting the car’s speed, activating the Volvo on-call assistance service, and actively slowing down and parking the vehicle safely as a last resort. The automaker may intervene if drivers fail to keep their hands on the steering wheel, touch the road, or even close their eyes. Further examples include improper lane changes and slow reaction periods. Meanwhile, the company uses technology in making this decision.
The speed limit of 180 km/h
The introduction of cameras in all Volvo cars will begin with Volvo’s next-generation Scalable Product Architecture 2 (S.P.A. 2) in the early 2020s. Details of the number of cameras and their positioning in the car are to be determined. To give a strong message about the dangers of driving fast, the company plans to limit its maximum speed to 180 km/h in its cars as of the 2021 model year. Volvo also intends to discuss new limitations on driving culture. Making it a priority gives the brand a stance in this regard. The speed limit and the installation of automobile cameras show how automobile manufacturers can take active responsibility to achieve zero-fatal traffic accidents by better supporting driver behavior.
Volvo to set speed limit for valets.
Volvo to set speed limit for valets.Volvo also introduced the Care Key application, allowing users to set speed limits on their cars for themselves, family members, friends, and even valets. As of the 2021 model year, Care Key will be a standard feature on all Volvo models. Care Key enables Volvo drivers to set speed limits before lending them to inexperienced drivers, such as family members or youngsters with more recent driving licenses. Answering questions about how the company will change over the next ten years, Volvo Cars C.E.O. Håkan Samuelsson said they are closely monitoring changes in consumer behavior.
Stressing that automakers are responsible for increasing safety in traffic, Samuelsson said they offer customers financial benefits in security and insurance, inviting them to meet with insurance companies in many markets to provide special and highly advantageous insurance for Volvo users.
“If we can encourage and support better behavior through technology and thus help drivers avoid problems, logically, this should positively impact insurance premiums,” he explained.
Samuelsson said they would like to develop their work according to new usage habits, pointing to the number of rental cars. “We focus on solutions to adapt to the next generation culture. Maybe we will have more subscribers than buyers,” he added.
Volvo unveils 60 years of security data.
Having put the three-point safety belt to the use of the entire industry for driver and passenger safety 60 years ago, Volvo can now share all accident data from the last 60 years. This offers a huge archive for all industry players who develop solutions via big data. Like open-source software libraries, a centralized digital library makes safety information easily accessible and invites the entire automobile industry to use it so that roads are safer for everyone. Project E.V.A. represents and celebrates the readiness of the 60 years of research on automobile safety to be shared with the world, underlining the fundamental problem of inequality in automobile security development.
Based on Volvo Cars’ research data and some other work, the E.V.A. Project shows that women are at greater risk in automobile accidents for some injuries. For example, the difference in anatomy and neck force between the average male and female shows that women can be more adversely affected by the whiplash effect than accidents.
