| Volvo's latest safety innovations are designed to
improve road safety, and include two concepts to help to prevent drink
driving and speed related accidents.
To test if a driver is safe and legal to drive, and not under the influence
of alcohol, Volvo has designed an integrated breathalyser that is attached
to the seatbelt which must be used before the car's engine will start.
The breathalyser shows a green light if the driver is OK to drive and,
once the seatbelt is fastened, the car can be started as normal. However,
if the driver is over the limit, a red light illuminates on the breathalyser
and it will not be possible to drive the car.
“According to the EU Commission, about 10,000 people a year die
in alcohol-related road accidents in Europe. In addition, many car accidents
also result in serious personal injuries because drivers or passengers
fail to wear their seatbelts, which is why we are working on the development
of a 'breathalyzer lock' to try to prevent these unnecessary accidents,”
says Ingrid Skogsmo, head of Volvo Cars Safety Centre in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The other new Volvo safety concept is a special ignition key which can
be programmed to limit the car’s speed to a predetermined maximum
and is aimed at younger or less experienced drivers who, statistics show,
are more likely to have speed related accidents.
According to EU statistics, the risk of 18 to 25 year olds being involved
in an accident is more than twice that of people aged between 26 and 50,
and the accidents often result from a lethal ombination of high speed
and inadequate experience.
“Using our special 'speed key', the car can easily be programmed
so it cannot exceed a safe limit. For instance, this would give parents
an added measure of security if lending their car to children with new
driving licences, or it would make it easier to enforce the 'youth licence'
issued in some European countries to new drivers who are not allowed to
exceed 90 km/h for a pre-determined period,” says Ingrid Skogsmo.
Volvo is continuing development of these safety concepts, and gauging
public and industry reactions to them, before confirming any plans to
put them into production.
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