Description

Volvo UK is the recipient of two Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards, which were given for their Volvo Child Safety campaign and for its innovative BLIS Blind Spot Information System.

Transcript

Host: Traffic today is faster and heavier than every before. The cause has become far more technically advanced since their birth more than a century ago. Man on the other hand has not changed at the same far straight. Male: If you look at accident statistics, it’s a clear message that most of the accidents are caused by driver mistakes and so, with the new sensors and new computer technology that is available now, we can actually help the driver in these rare but critical situations. Host: The swift pace of development in IT technology and the emerge of highly efficient and compact electronics have opened the door to entirely new opportunities for Volvo Car Corporation to develop new ways to help the driver. BLIS, a system that is already in production is an information system that covers the blind spot. Like an extra eye consisting of a digital camera placed in each rearview mirror. Red light indicates vehicle in the risk zone. The basic idea is an intelligent car that thinks and responds faster than the driver in critical situations, warning the driver of risks. The number of systems exists already integrated or planned for forthcoming models for safety concerning the car, the traffic situation and the driver. Adaptive Cruise Control is an adjustable speed control system that helps keeping the distance in an uneven traffic flow. A radar sensor monitors the distance to the vehicle in front of you and adjusts the speed accordingly. Another, even more active system is designed to prevent one of the most common traffic accidents and minimize the effect of whiplash caused injuries. Male: If you talk about rear-end collisions, that’s approximately 30% of the reported accidents. In these cases, drivers doing mistakes, they don’t brake for instance. In 50% of the rear-end collisions, the driver would not brake at all. So, what we are trying to do is to develop a system that helps into realize that an accident is going to happen and give him a warning and if he’s not responding to that warning, we will turn on the brakes autonomously to lessen the severity of the accident. Host: Many accidents occur when the cars drive off the road. To keep the vehicle in the current lane, the car has a camera that keeps track the car’s position in the lane. If the driver should lose attention and the wheels move outside of the lane markings, a warning buzzer sounds. If the driver does not respond to the buzzer, the system reacts to help stir back. The aim is to alert the driver to keep the vehicle in the intended lane. Using both camera and radar, an additional function monitors oncoming vehicles. If the driver crosses the lane marks and does not respond to the buzzer, the system reacts by applying additional stirring force to get the car back in the intended lane. A world breakthrough for Volvo Car Corporation developing the intelligent car but isn’t there a risk that the car takes over and makes the wrong decisions? Male: Of course, there are risks with that but we are striving not to make the driver rely on the systems. The system should warn only in very critical situations so that the driver will not get use to respond to the warning and it will be a rare incident that he has a warning only in very, very severe cases.