No car accidents in a new Volvo by 2020

The vision is mind-exploding. To imagine that there will be no car accidents on the road by 2020 seems to be something lifted from a science fiction book. Or perhaps the product of an overactive or overzealous imagination?

Surprisingly, we’re hearing it straight from Volvo Car Corp.

Paul de Voijs (pronounced as voice) is Volvo’s market area director responsible for the company’s total car business with Asian Private Importers. He was here a few days ago to meet up with officers of Scandinavian Motors Corp., a 100-percent Filipino-owned company that carries  the license to import and assemble Volvo cars in the Philippines.

“By 2020, no one should be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo. Our long-term vision is that cars should not crash,” echoes De Voijs with unmistakable conviction.

DE VOIJS says they’re working on sensors that will recognize even animals that may cross the path of a Volvo.

Undoubtedly, Volvo remains firm in its commitment to be the country’s—and the world’s— safest car. While the rest of the car industry is trying to copy vehicle safety features that Volvo had introduced in the market years ago, the Swedish car manufacturer is moving ahead in tooling new safety features.

“We’re working on our sensors to recognize even animals that may cross the path of a Volvo,” says De Voijs. This will allow the vehicle to give a warning, and that ultimately will bring the car to a full auto brake.

By 2020, Volvo aspires to produce vehicles for the Swedish market that will run on automatic mode. Already, the Swedish car firm is testing a prototype that can run on auto-pilot, much like airplanes set to fly on a programmed altitude and flight path.

By 2017, the car company will have 100 self-driving Volvo cars running in everyday driving conditions around the Swedish city of Gothenburg. This will be the final test, so to speak, of a project that just started between Volvo and the Swedish Transport Administration, the Swedish Transport Agency, Lindholmen Science Park and the City of Gothenburg.

The experiment, called the “Drive Me” project, aims to pinpoint the societal benefits of autonomous driving, while helping to position Sweden and Volvo cars as leaders in the development of future mobility.

Some of the questions that the Drive Me project aims to answer are:

How can autonomous (or self-driving) vehicles bring societal and economic benefits to traffic efficiency, the traffic environment and road safety?

What are the infrastructure requirements for autonomous driving?

What typical traffic situations are suitable for autonomous vehicles?

What is the level of customer confidence in autonomous vehicles?

How will surrounding drivers interact smoothly with a self-driving car?

Meanwhile, Volvo will continue to bring to the market, even to one as small as the Philippines, cars that will promise the safest ride.

“Safety will continue to be the primary offering of Volvo,” says De Voijs. Volvo cars, priced higher for their safety features, enjoy a substantial loyal market in the Philippines, making the brand a market leader in the large segment of the luxury car category.

Volvo Car Group is very proud of its outstanding position in the Swedish insurance company Folksam’s latest safety report. Four Volvo models—the S60, V60, V70 and S80—are on top of the ranking and are recognized as about 60 percent safer than the average car.

Focused on achieving zero accidents, Volvo draws its knowledge about car safety from findings by the company’s own traffic accident research team, which has been operative for more than 40 years.

All Volvo models come with the stability system DSTC (Dynamic Stability and Traction Control) and the whiplash protection system WHIPS as standard. The auto brake system City Safety is also standard equipment in all new models.

Over the years, the risk of being injured in a Volvo has been reduced continuously and substantially. It has continued to introduce new preventive and protective systems so that no one will be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo.