As part of Volvo’s Vision 2020 plan – which aims for “no one to be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo” – the company will install 180km/h speed limiters and in-car cameras as standard in all their vehicles.
“The cars with the speed limit cap are 2021 model year cars,” said Volvo South Africa.
“There are no dates yet set for vehicles with in-car cameras.”
The company said that vehicle technology alone will not allow it to reach these progressive goals, and that its focus will also include driver behaviour.
Speed limiters
Research done by Volvo Cars has identified that speeding is one of the main factors that prevent it from achieving the Vision 2020 goal.
“The problem with speeding is that above certain speeds, in-car safety technology and smart infrastructure design are no longer enough to avoid severe injuries and fatalities in the event of an accident,” said Volvo South Africa.
“People often drive too fast in a given traffic situation and have poor speed adaptation in relation to that traffic situation and their own capabilities as a driver,” said Jan Ivarsson, a Volvo Cars safety expert.
In addition to limiting top speeds, Volvo is investigating how a combination of smart speed control and geofencing technology could potentially automatically limit speeds in areas like schools and hospitals in the future.
In-car cameras
Volvo will also install in-car cameras and other sensors that constantly monitor the driver.
“[This will] allow the car to intervene if a clearly intoxicated or distracted driver is risking an accident involving serious injury or death,” said Volvo South Africa.
According to the company, the car will be able to tell if a driver is not in a state to be behind the wheel – and then take the necessary precautions.
This could involve:
- Limiting top speed
- Alerting Volvo On Call assistance
- Slowing down and stopping the car
“Volvo Cars plans to start introducing these cameras on the next generation of Volvo’s scalable SPA2 vehicle platform,” said the company.
Keyword: Volvo to introduce speed limiters as standard – What you need to know