Volvo: Uncrashable Car by 2020
Volvo’s set itself a lofty, laudable goal: Banishing all deaths and injuries from Volvo vehicles by 2020.
That’s right, the company that invented three-point seat belts, crumple zones and side-impact airbags is looking to recapture it’s lost Grim Reaper-aversive mojo.
Reuters reports the main development upon which Volvo is banking: a radar/sonar system which provides early-warning information (to the car) so that it (the car) brake and/or steer out of trouble, reducing impact speed to about 10mph.
Volvo’s long-term goal: building an “uncrashable car.” As Volvo safety team leader Jan Ivarsson says, “We as a community will not accept that we have injuries.”At least not in Volvos. PC pollyanna utopianism aside, why would Ford dump a ton of money into Volvo’s safety rep if it’s trying to sell the Swedish safety swamis? Unless, of course, this is just a “buy us please” PR exercise. Perish the– I mean, as if.
via Reuters