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.
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Unless humans are taken completely out of the equation, there will be crashes and people will be hurt or killed. In other words, it’s impossible.
Humans are always part of the system. Even if a computer is in complete control of a car (or whatever), since humans wrote the progam and built the hardware, there is a possibility for (and there will be) errors (in this case, crashes-literally).
It sounds great, but will never happen.
You might be able to keep a Volvo from crashing into other things. That doesn’t mean you can keep other vehicles from crashing into the Volvo.
Imagine the ads, though: two 2020 Volvos on a straight line track a mile apart, the obligatory helicopter shot, then the cars leave their starting marks with a screech. Shots of the speedos, shaking as the car accelerates, quickly climbing over 100 mph. Heli shots of them screaming toward each other Then the red lights on the dash start blinking frantically as the sensors detect the other car, activating the ABS, bringing them to a halt as the bumpers barely touch. Then the voiceover “Volvo. The safest car in the world.”
Do they plan on making it out of the same skin they use on airplane “black boxes”?
The movie deathproof would have been alot less exciting if they used a volvo
Do you think Volvo can get people to wear seatbelts? Maybe they will run the exhaust through the seats thus creating a life saving suction force. They can call it “Seats Suck”.
Clearly Volvo technicians have never been to Florida or they would not be making this claim.
Yep and the announcer would be one of those deep voice guys standing too close to the microphone. Cool as a cucumber too.
That would be the absolute sweetest commercial in the world if they actually did it. It has to look real or else people will think it was all staged (as in fake). The best part will be if they extend an opportunity to the public/reporters to try the stunt themselves.
I hate to think of how lax drivers would get if they knew they couldnt crash the car. I can imagine under those circumstnaces Volvo drivers being reckless enough to cause other people to get into trouble. And, yes, NeonCat makes a great point above.
This is awesome news. I’ve been really worried about the safety of upper-middle class white people on their commutes to whatever small liberal arts colleges they work at. Maybe in 2040, when thousands of these vehs funnell down to college students (w/requisite dancing bear and “=” stickers on the back) will we all reap the benefits of Swedish safety. Meanwhile, for me, it’s just Swedish fish!
I can see how you can get there:
Auto pilot!
Actually even those crash, look at the movie “I robot.”
If the frontal crash avoidance could be achieved it would truly be a testament to the reputation of the Volvo brand.
And yes…. they would get a heckuva lot of sales from the press coverage.
NASCAR stock cars are some of the safest vehicles made (no, I’m not a fan), but even so, there are injuries and even fatalities every once in a while. Such safety systems would be impractical on consumer cars. Can you imagine the fallout if Volvo markets a crash-proof car and then somebody dies in one?
rashakor,
Yes, real autopilot systems to fail. Here is an interesting recent example of how automation leads to complacency and unpreparedness when the automated systems fail.
@NeonCat93 That was a great visual!
Maybe Volvo can develop an autopilot good enough to keep their cars from running into other vehicles and fixed objects. I don’t see how they could cope with any of the following situations:
Volvo is stopped in the middle of a grade crossing when the train comes.
Volvo is rear ended while stopped at a red light.
Volvo driver tries to take a corner way too fast. Car runs off road because required lateral acceleration exceeds capabilities of tires.
Perhaps Volvo has come up with the best safety feature of all… a car that won’t start. You can sit there in your garage all day secure in the knowledge that you won’t have a road accident.
yankinwaoz:
Perhaps Volvo has come up with the best safety feature of all… a car that won’t start. You can sit there in your garage all day secure in the knowledge that you won’t have a road accident.
…then claim it’s “carbon neutral” for added yuppie appeal.
Actually, I think this is a good idea.
One, it’s a worthwhile goal. Perfection is not attainable, but it is worth striving for.
Two, this IS their brand identity (Is RF on vacation? He should have noted this before me!).
Even if they can’t sell enough cars, they could make a mint on some of the ideas they might develop and they have the right people to do it. It is their expertise.
I’m sure Volvo can come up with some good engineering ideas – but they are stuck with the Human-factor.
That is, unless Volvo dealerships adopt a driving sim that gauges their customers’ driving skill and predicts their chances of terrible vehicular death. Sure, many potential customers would be offended and walk right out of the showroom – but so what? If maximizing ‘safety’ as a brand identity is important, there are customers you do NOT want.
I think it’s great.
Building a brand should include the vision thing. If you have sensible and realistic goals, and you stick to them, you gain respect. Good companies command respect, and good brands do too.
Aiming for best safety is 100% complementary to the Volvo brand.
Is Volvo’s goal realistic? Remember folks, they are talking about an uncrashable car. Not about a car that can’t be smashed by a train, a truck, or a Hummer. The uncrashable car concept implies using electronics to severely limit a car’s speed in dangerous situations. To be effective, it would require monumental IT power and considerable development finesse. You can’t employ a clumsy system that people would override.
Building products is about setting priorities. By setting this priority, Volvo is saying they are spending scarce resources on safety — and not, for instance, on developing retro muscle cars. A wise decision, I say.
All of the oldsters that jump curbs in their Buicks and run down pedestrians would be (initially) the prime target of such tech.
As for the rest of us; “Where’s the “off” switch?”
so . . . . we can turn this system off when we want to autocross our mom’s turbo station wagon?
@ Kman
Thanks!