Innovative safety tech connects drivers, cyclists
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Volvo Cars, protective gravity sports gear manufacturer POC and Ericsson have presented what has been described as an innovative safety technology connecting drivers and cyclists.
The technology consists of a connected car and helmet prototype that establishes two-way communication, offering proximity alerts to Volvo drivers and cyclists and designed to prevent accidents.
No car manufacturer had previously put a stake in the ground to help address the problem by using connected safety technology until now, it is claimed.
Using a smartphone app for bicyclists, like Strava, the cyclist’s position can be shared through the Volvo cloud to the car, and vice versa.
If an imminent collision is calculated, both road users will be warned.
A Volvo driver will be alerted to a cyclist nearby through a head-up display alert – even if he happens to be in a blind spot. The cyclist will be warned via a helmet-mounted alert light.
Klas Bendrik, vice president of Volvo Cars, said the partnership was an important milestone in investigating the next steps towards Volvo Car’s vision to build cars that would not crash.
“By exploring cloud-based safety systems, we are getting ever closer to eliminating the remaining blind spots between cars and cyclists, and by that avoid collisions,” said Bendrik.
The global growth in cycling continues unabated as commuters take to their bikes. This has resulted in an increase in serious cycling accidents, an issue that Volvo Cars and POC believes is unacceptable and requires an innovative and concerted effort to address.
