Volvo Cars and the Swedish National Road Administration in Joint Offensive Against Traffic Accidents

GOTHENBURG - Septemeber 3, 2008: Volvo Car Corporation and the Swedish National Road Administration will work together to avoid or lessen the effects of road accidents. This is the thrust of the declaration of intent that Volvo Cars' President and CEO Fredrik Arp and the Swedish National Road Administration's Director General Ingemar Skogö signed at the start of the traffic safety seminar today in Tylösand.

The Swedish National Road Administration has worked on its zero-vision approach since 1997, while Volvo Car Corporation presented a vision in 2007 whose aim is to design cars that do not crash. In the shorter term, this means that by the year 2020, nobody should be injured or killed in a Volvo.

Ensuring a safe traffic environment requires cooperation between three main sectors: car manufacturers, drivers and the authorities responsible for roads and related infrastructure. Cars and roads are becoming increasingly dependent on one another for ensuring that new safety solutions function as well as possible. Volvo already has technology that can read road markings and alert the driver if he or she is heading across to the wrong lane. The Swedish National Road Administration and Volvo will now work together on a variety of issues, including the search for additional ways in which cars and roads can communicate to reduce the number of risky traffic situations.

"Our new safety vision helps focus efforts and it also helps us take the development steps that are essential in order to maintain our leading position in the field of safety. Our cooperation with the Swedish National Road Administration benefits both parties and helps us make the right priorities," says Fredrik Arp, President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation.

"Future technological possibilities are utilised better if there is a constructive dialogue with the car industry. In the international perspective, this cooperation is entirely unique," says Ingemar Skogö.

Volvo Cars' own accident research unit has been gathering data on car accidents ever since the early 1970s. Today there are about 36,000 accidents that have been meticulously documented and the knowledge gained from studying these events is used in the continuously evolving development of new safety solutions.

"Non-stop research and development into safety in and around our cars will be crucial for the creation of a safer traffic environment and an accident-free future. In this work, we look forward to successful cooperation between public authorities and the car industry," says Jan Ivarsson, head of safety strategy at Volvo Cars.

Facts about the declaration of intent:

Volvo Cars and the Swedish National Road Administration will jointly identify the criteria and quality levels that allow infrastructure and vehicle functionality to interact on a level where Volvo's and society's visions regarding traffic safety are met.

Volvo Cars and the Swedish National Road Administration will wherever possible and suitable follow up the results of the improvements to vehicles and infrastructure as they continuously evolve, as part of a learning process designed to promote further improvements.

Volvo Cars and the Swedish National Road Administration will exchange data about quality in the interfaces that are developed, so as to make it possible to further develop the system. Examples of such data are in-car traffic information about road conditions, infrastructure quality and incidents.

Volvo Cars and the Swedish National Road Administration will jointly and together with other relevant partners contribute to the safe usage of the road transport system and help ensure that driving takes place within the system's framework, wherever essential with the help of technology.