Photo: Volvo
From 2020 onwards, not a single new Volvo car will know the feeling of driving faster than 112 mph (180 kph). The decision to cap the speed is part of Volvo’s set of measures designed to ensure than not a single person is killed while driving a Swedish-made car.
This goal of Volvo, hailed by the company as “the most ambitious safety visions in the automotive industry,” relied until recently on the development of safety technologies. The company seems to have realized though that this approach alone is not enough.
Above certain speeds, no technology, no matter how advanced, is capable of preventing a crash. Having speed limits helps, but they too are hindered by the drivers’ desire to comply or not with those speed limits.
“As humans, we all understand the dangers with snakes, spiders and heights. With speeds, not so much,” said in a statement Jan Ivarsson, Volvo safety expert.
“People often drive too fast in a given traffic situation and have poor speed adaption in relation to that traffic situation and their own capabilities as a driver. We need to support better behavior and help people realize and understand that speeding is dangerous.”
Following years of research, the Swedes say they have identified two other elements that have an impact on the safety of the car, aside from speeding: intoxication and distraction. The effects of all of them could be mitigated by creating a factory-set top speed, smart speed control, and geofencing.
That means that in the not so distant future, a Volvo car will never exceed the speed we mentioned above, but it will also slow down automatically when driving in school or hospital areas.
Volvo did not provide any more details on limiting the top speed of the cars to 112 MPH (180 kph) but will present more on March 20 at a special safety event in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Above certain speeds, no technology, no matter how advanced, is capable of preventing a crash. Having speed limits helps, but they too are hindered by the drivers’ desire to comply or not with those speed limits.
“As humans, we all understand the dangers with snakes, spiders and heights. With speeds, not so much,” said in a statement Jan Ivarsson, Volvo safety expert.
“People often drive too fast in a given traffic situation and have poor speed adaption in relation to that traffic situation and their own capabilities as a driver. We need to support better behavior and help people realize and understand that speeding is dangerous.”
Following years of research, the Swedes say they have identified two other elements that have an impact on the safety of the car, aside from speeding: intoxication and distraction. The effects of all of them could be mitigated by creating a factory-set top speed, smart speed control, and geofencing.
That means that in the not so distant future, a Volvo car will never exceed the speed we mentioned above, but it will also slow down automatically when driving in school or hospital areas.
Volvo did not provide any more details on limiting the top speed of the cars to 112 MPH (180 kph) but will present more on March 20 at a special safety event in Gothenburg, Sweden.
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