New Volvo Technology Avoids Pedestrians And Reduces Risk Of Fatalities By Up To 85 Percent

SYDNEY – Sept 16, 2010: Safety pioneer Volvo has demonstrated its world-first Pedestrian Avoidance Technology (PAT), which can reduce the fatality risk of a pedestrian collision by up to 85%.

Available to Australians in the all-new Volvo S60 from December, this ground-breaking technology was developed by the same manufacturer which invented the three-point seatbelt 51 years ago.

PAT can detect pedestrians who walk into the path of an oncoming car and within 0.5 seconds assess if the pedestrian is in danger. It then warns the driver and automatically applies full braking power if the driver does not respond in time.

During the last decade, 3,449 pedestrians have been killed on Australian roads. Over a third were seniors over the age of 60 years, and 1 in 10 were children under the age of 14 years*. The technology, which is the combination of a radar integrated into the grille and a camera fitted behind the interior rear-view mirror can detect pedestrians from 80cm in height, equivalent to that of a three-year old child.

Dr Bruce Corben, Senior Research Fellow, Monash Accident Research Centre and pedestrian safety expert said current trends indicate that between 500-600 people in Victoria will die from pedestrian trauma in the coming decade and that ten times this number will be hospitalised with many suffering permanent health losses.

“Because about half of all pedestrian traffic fatalities don’t involve braking by the driver, crashes often occur at the initial travel speed. Travel speed is critically important to pedestrian safety: some nine out of ten pedestrians struck at 30 km/h will survive. At 50 km/h, nine out of ten struck pedestrians will die. In-vehicle technologies that can detect pedestrians ahead, activate braking earlier and so shorten vehicle stopping distances, show considerable promise, not only in avoiding collisions but, by reducing injury risk through lower impact speeds when collisions do occur” says Dr Corben.

Volvo’s Pedestrian Avoidance Technology can completely avoid a collision with a pedestrian at speeds of up to 35 km/h if the driver does not react in time. At higher speeds, the focus is on slowing down the car as much as possible prior to the impact.

A lower speed of impact means that the risk of serious injury is significantly reduced. For instance, if a vehicle is travelling at 50km/h the system slows the impact speed to 25 km/h – the difference between free-falling from 10 metres or just 3 metres. The fatality risk to the pedestrians is reduced by 85% in this instance.

Volvo Car Australia Managing Director, Alan Desselss, said the Volvo’s introduction of the technology continued to set the new benchmark for automotive safety, and reinforced the importance of a holistic approach to road safety – for those inside and outside the car.

“Volvo is committed to the safety of all road users and, with this system, arguably one of our most vulnerable road users is better protected than ever before” says Alan Desselss, Managing Director, Volvo Car Australia.

“This technology has not been designed to take control away from the driver but merely acts as a back-up system which, unlike a human, can never be distracted” continued Desselss.

Older Australians continued to be overrepresented in the number of pedestrian accidents and fatalities, and account for 24% of all pedestrian fatalities*. As the population increases, it is estimated that there will be a similar increase in the number of older pedestrian fatalities. Over the past 20 years, the number of people aged 65 years and over has increased from 11% to 13.3%^.

Volvo Cars has been developing its pedestrian avoidance system for over 10 years. Half a million test kilometres were driven in some of the world’s most densely populated cities – such as Paris, Tokyo and New Delhi – so that the system could store the patterns of movement of pedestrians in different traffic situations, countries and climatic conditions.

Recently awarded the international Plus X Award and the distinction of "Best Product of the Year 2010", Volvo’s world-first Pedestrian Avoidance technology once again emphasises the enviable safety reputation of the premium Swedish brand.

Volvo’s next challenge is fulfilling its commitment to its Mobility 2020 vision, which states that no person will be seriously injured or fatally injured in or by a Volvo by the year 2020.