We drove Volvo's S80 V8 in pouring rain last August, but that didn't stop us from using its full 315bhp. We aren't driving gods, but that's the kind of engineering that goes into a Volvo. They have always put safety first, and seem a little out of place in our country, where we usually comply with safety standards like a helmet or seat-belt only when we're threatened with legal action. Mr.Thomas Broberg, Senior Technical Advior at the Volvo Cars Safety Centre, answered a few of our questions regarding Volvo's space-age safety systems and their plans for our market.
CarWale: What is the ‘collision risk zone’ for pedestrians?
Thomas Broberg: There is no formal definition on what risk zone is but it means the area on front of the car where there is a risk that the car can collide with a pedestrian, if you are not reacting to the warning and brake. Every year, thousands of pedestrians are injured and killed on roads and Volvo is working to reduce this figure. At the end of 2008, a unique new technology was unveiled that allows the car to detect pedestrians in the collision risk zone, alerting the driver in advance. If the driver does not respond to the warning, the car brakes itself and at low speeds the accident can even be entirely avoided. And if a pedestrian is hit, the front of the Volvo is designed to absorb the impact energy and reduce the severity of personal injuries.
Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake and pedestrian detection reacts when a pedestrian walks out in front of a car - and will activate the car's full braking power if the driver does not respond to the danger. This innovation was presented in the Volvo S60 Concept, unveiled for the first time at the Detroit Motor Show in early January 2009.
This safety innovation is the next step in Volvo Cars' continuous development of technologies that detect dangerous situations and that actively help the driver avoid an accident. The previous stages were developed to help the driver avoid collisions with other vehicles. Now we are taking a giant step forward with a feature that also boosts safety for unprotected road-users. What is more, we are now advancing from fifty percent to full automatic braking power. To our knowledge, none of our competitors have made such progress in this area.
CW: Will the alcolock and Volvo Personal Car Communicator be available in India? If they aren’t already here, when can we expect them to get here?
TB: PCC is available in India today and we are constantly evaluating adding product and features to the Indian market, and if there is an interest for the Alcoguard from the Indian customers we will introduce it accordingly.
CW: Could you please explain the statement ‘the alcolock is based on advanced fuel-cell technology’?
TB: Along with failure to use safety belts and excessive speed, drink-driving is one of the biggest traffic-safety problems. Since the start of 2008, Volvo has offered an alcolock with the aim of preventing drivers from driving under the influence of alcohol. The alcolock is based on advanced fuel-cell technology and is very reliable.
Alcoguard utilizes fuel-cell technology - the very same technology that is used by most police forces in Europe. Before the car can be started, the driver has to blow into the wireless hand-held unit. This unit is the size of a remote control and it is stored and charged in a compartment behind the centre console. The driver's breath is analysed in the hand-held unit which then transmits the results via radio signal to the car's electronic control system. If the blood-alcohol limit of 0.2 g/l is exceeded, the engine will not start. Thanks to advanced sensors, it is not possible to use external air sources such as a pump to cheat the system.
Fuel-cell technology is more expensive but it also produces far better results. Unlike semi-conductors, for instance, fuel-cells only react to ethanol and nothing else. In the fuel-cell, the ethanol molecules pass through a sensitive membrane and an electrical current is generated. This current is then measured. Higher current means more alcohol in the driver's breath.
The results of the breathalyser test are shown via three LEDs in the hand-held unit.
Green: 0.0 - 0.1 g/l alcohol, the car's engine starts
Yellow: 0.1 - 0.2 g/l alcohol, the car will start, but the driver should not drive
Red: more than 0.2 g/l alcohol, the car's engine will not start
CW: More and more technology is taking over the safety aspect of driving – Volvo’s ‘auto braking’ system, for example. What measures has Volvo got in place to ensure that it cannot be sued by a driver for an accident that occurs anyway, even if it is within the parameters specified by Volvo?
TB: In a Volvo, safety is an integrated solution. It is the interplay between its design and various safety technologies that determines how safe a car is, and not just the amount of individual components and features. Volvo's preventative safety systems are developed to help support the driver avoid an accident, never take over responsibility from the driver.
The new Volvo XC60 was launched with City Safety - Volvo Cars' in-house developed unique technology for avoiding low-speed collisions in city traffic and tailbacks. City Safety in combination with the recently introduced Collision Warning with Auto Brake means that Volvo Cars now offer functions for auto-braking at all speeds. Surveys indicate that 75 percent of all reported collisions take place at speeds of up to 30 km/h. In 50 percent of all rear end collisions the driver has not braked at all before the collision, mainly due to distraction. In these cases, City Safety could make a crucial difference. City Safety brakes the car automatically if the driver is about to drive into the vehicle in front. A collision can either thus be entirely avoided or if this is not possible, damage to cars and personal injuries can be reduced.
CW: How does Volvo plan to market itself in India?
TB: Volvo Cars sees India as a very important market for the future for our company. Even though 2009 is a difficult year for the automotive industry, our Marketing investments in India are kept on a relatively stable level. We are constantly exploring new possibilities in India and in addition to our current product offer with S80 and XC90 we are evaluating further product launches. Safety, environment and our modern Scandinavian design are core to Volvo and will also be part of our communication in India.
CW: Indians, as a thumb rule, are notoriously casual about road safety – how will you tackle this problem?
TB: Volvo designs cars for a global market with safety as one of it's major core values. That means that a Volvo sold anywhere has the same high safety performance. We also work with communication trying to spread our knowledge about road traffic safety around the world including India. For example in India we are currently running a safety campaign with a leading media house spreading awareness on the importance of wearing a safety belt while driving. We have received great participation from the viewers. We hope to undertake such partnerships in future on a long term basis to spread the awareness on Safety.
