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From the introduction of the laminated windscreen in 1944, to the newest safety features on the recently-launched XC90 sports utility vehicle, Volvo has been the pioneer for saving lives on roads in the UK and around the world. Three years ago, Volvo opened its state-of-the-art, award-winning £59m Safety Centre in Gothenburg, Sweden, which represents a world-class breakthrough in safety research. Work undertaken at the Safety Centre and by the long-established Volvo Traffic Accident Research Team, which attends and investigates every serious accident involving a Volvo within a 100km radius of Gothenburg, puts the vehicle manufacturer at the cutting edge of road safety. Ingrid Skogsmo at the Volvo Safety Centre says: “Our combination of new and proven technology, computer simulations and ongoing data from real-life accidents means that, when it comes to automotive safety, Volvo is still leading the way.” Safety experts agree that the most crucial invention in terms of saving the lives of drivers and their passengers was the seatbelt. January 31 2003 marked the 20th anniversary of the compulsory wearing of seatbelts in the UK, but it was a Volvo engineer, the late Nils Bohlin, who patented the first three-point belt almost 50 years ago. It was an invention that changed the automotive world and is one of the most life-saving innovations in human history – and remains the basis of safety in every car. Volvo became the first manufacturer to fit three-point front seatbelts as standard in all of its cars in 1959. And it was the first car company to fit rear belts as standard in 1967. Today, Volvo is part of the Ford Motor Company and, as such, the Safety Centre leads the development of car safety within the entire Ford operation. The newest safety feature developed by Volvo is the Roll Stability Control (RSC), which was launched on the XC90 last autumn – the carmaker’s first entry into the expanding SUV market. Owing to its higher centre of gravity, an SUV may have a higher risk of rolling over than a conventional car. Therefore, the 4x4 features the latest version of Volvo’s Roll-Over Protection System, which incorporates RSC, designed to minimise the risk of the vehicle rolling over in an accident, and provides increased occupant protection if the vehicle does roll over. RSC is the only active stability-enhancement system on the market to measure a car’s roll angle. RSC uses a gyro-sensor to register the vehicle’s roll speed and roll angle. Using this information, the terminal angle is instantly calculated and thus also the roll-over risk. If the calculated angle is so great that there is an obvious risk of the vehicle rolling over, the dynamic stability and traction control anti-skid system is activated. It responds by reducing the engine’s power and also by braking one or more wheels as necessary until the car understeers and stability is regained. This significantly helps reduce the risk of a roll-over accident caused by extreme manoeuvres. If the XC90 should roll over, a series of passive safety features combine to reduce the risk of the occupants’ heads from coming into contact with the vehicle’s interior roof panel or sides. The Roll-Over Protection System, therefore, includes a reinforced occupant compartment, where all seats are equipped with seatbelt pretensioners to hold occupants securely in their seats, and a specially-adapted inflatable curtain across all three rows of seats to prevent occupants or any limbs from being thrown from the XC90. Volvo has also addressed the problem of the XC90 colliding with a car that sits closer to the road surface. In such an accident, there is the risk of greater damage to the oncoming passenger car and more serious injuries to its passengers, since the lower car’s protective beams and crumple zones will slip below the front of the SUV without being activated. However, to reduce the possibility of this happening, the front
suspension subframe in the XC90 is supplemented with a lower cross-member,
positioned at the height of the beam in a conventional car. This
construction reduces the risk of injuries in frontal collisions
as well as in rear-end impacts and side impacts.
The Safety Concept Car focuses on active safety and provides a
glimpse into the future of features that will help all motorists
become safer drivers. |
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