Volvo is showcasing three new safety systems it claims will make our roads safer.
Collision Warning with Auto Brake for pedestrians, Collision Avoidance by Auto Steering and Vehicle to Vehicle Communication are three Volvo concepts which are currently in development to provide better protection for people both in and outside the car.
The snappily-titled Collision Warning with Auto Brake is a development of existing technology and in future will assist the human eye and help the driver to ‘see’ people.
It uses radar technology with a wide-angle search area to detect objects in front of and around the car.
If the car approaches a pedestrian, a red warning light will come on first on the windscreen’s head-up display and a warning signal will sound.
This helps the driver to react and, in most cases, an accident can be avoided.
If the risk of a collision increases further assisted braking is activated and the car will brake automatically.
Collision Avoidance by Auto Steering is a further development of Lane Departure Warning, which uses a camera to monitor the car’s position between lane markers.
If a car wanders across any of the lane markers without using the indicator, the driver is warned by an audible signal.
If the car is about to move into the wrong lane and the system detects that an oncoming vehicle is on a collision course, the car is automatically steered back to a safe position in the original lane.
Volvo has also decided that cars that can talk to each other are safer.
For example, a driver in one car can receive information that another car further ahead on the same road, or around a blind corner, has come across an obstacle and has slammed on the brakes – and this makes it possible to brake in good time.
However, for communication to work, it is necessary to have a standard 'language' so that all vehicles can talk to each other irrespective of make or model.
'With communication between vehicles, and between vehicles and the traffic environment, a large number of today’s accidents could be avoided.
'The major challenges are to find a standard “language” and the particular applications that are most urgent and effective,' said Jonas Ekmark, Manager for Preventive Safety at Volvo Cars Safety Centre.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 4 3"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1 1"%3E%3C/svg%3E)