Renowned for their safety features, Volvo is making great strides in its bid that no-one should be ‘killed or injured’ in their vehicles by 2020.
World's first pedestrian airbag fitted as standard
In addition, they’ve also fitted as standard the world’s first pedestrian airbag on the all-new Volvo V40.
The revolutionary new airbag is launched one year after Volvo, as a strategic partner of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), joined road safety experts and MPs to set the blueprint in the UK for safer roads over the next 10 years.
Volvo’s new Pedestrian Airbag will go some way to help further reduce the number of fatalities involving pedestrians, currently 14 per cent in Europe and 25 per cent in China.
The Pedestrian Airbag technology was a world breakthrough when the all-new Volvo V40 was launched in Geneva earlier this year and will to be fitted as standard to all specifications. The system is active at speeds between 20 and 50 km/h. 75 per cent of all accidents involving pedestrians take place at up to 40 km/h.
The most serious head injuries involving pedestrians and cars are caused by the hard structure under the bonnet, the windscreen’s lower edge and the A-pillars. These were the main areas that Volvo looked at when developing its new technology.
Seven sensors embedded in the front of the car transmit signals to a control unit. When the car comes into contact with an object, the unit evaluates the signals and if it registers what it interprets as a human leg the pedestrian airbag is deployed.
In its inflated position, the airbag covers the entire windscreen wiper recess, about one-third of the windscreen and the lower part of the A-pillars. The entire sequence from activation of the system to full inflation takes a few hundredths of a second.
It’s a great idea but let’s see how long it takes other car makers to install these too.