“Volvo’s research, along with decades of knowledge and experience, has seen major mprovements to the industry’s safety systems and technology”

Volvo’s safety philosophy has been based on a holistic approach ever since the foundation of the company in 1927. As well as consistently achieving excellent ratings in Euro NCAP, Volvo works to exceed these standards and develops safety in areas above and beyond those required by legislation. Collated at its award-winning Safety Centre in Gothenburg, Volvo’s safety work is based on a combination of extensive research, virtual testing, crash test laboratory results and data from real life accidents.

The Volvo Traffic Investigation Team has been working for over 30 years and has collated a database of more than 30,000 accidents. The data constitutes a sound research database and, by studying the detail, it has been possible to identify which personal injuries arise from different types of accident. The knowledge gained from this accident research is fed directly back to the engineers at Volvo Cars, who improve the existing safety systems and develop new ones to tackle the most common and, therefore, the most important causes of personal injury.

The Volvo Safety Centre was opened in 2000 and is the most advanced safety centre in the world. The facility is used by other brands within the Ford Motor Company such as Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin and Volvo is recognised as the Central of Excellence for safety within the Group.

Volvo’s Inflatable Curtain for its next generation convertible

“Volvo engineers have found a solution to fitting the IC to a convertible by fitting it inside the door itself, rather than in the roof”

1. Blind Spot Information System (BLIS)
The first of the four new systems, launched at the Detroit Motor Show in January 2004, is BLIS. The system is an industry-first and is designed to help avoid accidents by improving the driver’s visibility. Blind spots represent a serious hazard to a driver’s rear visibility, particularly when changing lanes.

Volvo was first to introduce a wide-angle mirror on the driver’s side, and now its BLIS takes the next step using digital camera technology and a monitoring system to watch for vehicles on the areas along both sides of the car. When another vehicle enters the monitored zone, a warning lamp lights up near the door mirror to alert the driver. This system is expected to appear in production cars within the next 12 months.

2. Adaptive cruise control
Volvo’s prototype Adaptive cruise control uses a radar sensor in the front of the car to continuously monitor the distance to the vehicle in front and automatically adjust the car's speed to maintain a safe distance. When introduced, the driver can set a maximum speed and minimum time interval to the vehicle in front and, if a car were to pull into the safety space created, the Adaptive cruise control would automatically adjust the car’s speed to maintain a safe distance.

The system uses a radar installation in the front of the car, which automatically alerts the driver with a buzzer and warning lamp if the distance to the vehicle or obstacle in front reduces drastically. If the system thinks the driver is not braking hard enough to stop the car in time, the system cuts in and increases the braking pressure to maximise the car’s deceleration. What’s more, if the driver does not brake at all, the system automatically activates the brakes. Even if it is not possible to avoid an accident, the system helps reduce the speed before the collision, thereby lowering the risk of serious consequences.

4. Inflatable curtain for convertibles
The next generation Volvo convertible will, like the rest of the Volvo range, be able to offer an Inflatable Curtain (IC) as part of Volvo’s Side Impact Protection System (SIPS). Volvo engineers have found a solution to fitting the IC to a convertible by fitting it inside the door itself, rather than in the roof like the rest of the Volvo range. In a side impact, the curtain inflates and pushes itself upward within a split second to position itself between the side window and the occupant’s head. The door-mounted inflatable curtain is designed to work even if the side window is down and deflate slowly during a rollover accident.

Volvo’s latest safety innovation is BLIS, its Blind Spot Information System

“The shape and design of a seat and how a driver adjusts it to accommodate height and weight can have an impact on safety”

In practice, the WHIPS seat mechanism bends backward with the occupant’s body – first in parallel and then in a short reclining movement. Recent surveys show that WHIPS seats reduced whiplash injury by 40%.

SUV safety
With the entry of Volvo Cars into the sports utility vehicle (SUV) market with the Volvo XC90, there was increased focus on several new safety technologies. One of them is the important issue of rollover accidents, where the vehicle rolls over on to its roof one or more times.

A unique Roll Over Protection System (ROPS) protects the XC90’s passengers by using stronger Boron steel for the roof structure, plus a Roll Stability Control (RSC) system to help maintain control and minimise the risk of a roll-over by using a gyro-sensor to constantly monitor the XC90’s speed and roll angle to instantly activate its Dynamic Stability and Traction Control (DSTC) system, if required. In the unlikely event that the XC90 were to roll-over, Volvo’s research shows that SUVs are likely to roll-over more times than a conventional car, so the side Inflatable Curtain (IC) stays inflated for a longer period across all three rows of seats to protect head and upper chest areas.

The issue of crash compatibility with other cars was also tackled and the XC90 was designed with a built-in lower cross member in its front bumper. Positioned so it impacts at the height of a conventional car’s bumper, both the crumple zones and safety systems of the other car are activated. In addition, an 80mm gap between the engine and bonnet is designed to create a cushion to absorb any impact with pedestrians.

WHIPS (Anti-Whiplash Seat) (left to right: normal position; parallel movement rearwards; backrest tips rearwards

Simulated front-end impact tests are being used to study in great detail how the seatbelt moves and its combined influence with the airbag on the uterus, placenta and foetus, as well as how the foetus moves in relation to the mother’s body. The model will also be used to test new seatbelt designs and other safety systems.