Volvo braking technology will stop car for pedestrian in roadway

(September 25, 2009) A ball bounces out into the street. Without thinking, the child who dropped it runs after — just in front of an approaching car and driver facing the most dreadful situation...

The next generation of preventive safety technology from Volvo has a groundbreaking function that can detect a pedestrian who has walked into the roadway — and automatically avoid collisions at speeds below 15 miles per hour if the driver does not react in time.

In connection with the launch of the all-new Volvo S60 in 2010, Volvo Cars will be unveiling the next generation of preventive safety technology. Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake and Pedestrian Safety. The new safety functions represent the next stage in Volvo Cars' continuous development of technology to detect risky situations and help the driver avoid accidents.

 "The previous stages were developed to help the driver avoid collisions with other vehicles. Now we are taking a giant step forward with a function that also boosts safety for unprotected road-users. What is more, we are advancing from fifty percent to full automatic braking power. To our knowledge, none of our competitors have made such progress in this area," explains Thomas Broberg, safety expert at Volvo Cars.

"This technology helps us take an important step towards our long-term vision of designing cars that do not crash. Our aim for 2020 is that no one should be killed or seriously injured in a Volvo," Broberg said.
In the Europe, the proportion of pedestrians figuring in overall traffic fatalities varies between 10 and 25 percent depending on the country. In the European countries' capital cities, 1,560 people died in road accidents in 2007. Of these, 43 percent were pedestrians.

 The speed of a car is of considerable significance to the outcome of an accident and the risk for a pedestrian of being killed in an accident at 30 mph is 85 percent higher compared to if the speed is 15 mph.

"Our aim is that this new technology should help the driver avoid collisions with pedestrians at speeds below 25 km/h (15 mph). If the car is travelling faster, the aim is to reduce the impact speed as much as possible. In most cases, we can reduce the collision force by about 75 percent. Considering the large number of pedestrian fatalities that occur, if we manage to reduce the fatality risk with 20 percent this new function will make a big difference. In specific situations the fatality reduction can be up to 85 percent" says Broberg.