Volvo creates the world’s first car with an airbag for pedestrians

Is it possible to avoid a collision with a pedestrian, well it can be. At least, it can soften the consequences of impact. This is the objective which has been set before creating a new Volvo model, the
V-40. It will be the first car in the world that incorporates an airbag for pedestrians. 

"In Europe, 14% of fatalities in road accidents are pedestrians hit," said Lopez Madrid Germain, president of the company in Spain. The new model will be available between July and August this year.

The pedestrian airbag is activated when one of the seven sensors that has been incorporated into Volvo V-40 front bumper record the physical contact between the car and the pedestrian.

By detecting the impact, if the system interprets it as a human leg, the rear end of the hood is automatically released and rises through the deployment of an airbag, which covers the area under the hood.

"To develop this device we have considered the most serious injuries that cause pedestrians in the head due to the hard structure on the hood and bottom edge of the windshield," company sources clarified.

The system starts to activate at speeds between 20 and 50 mph, since, according to estimates by the Swedish car company, 75% of accidents involving pedestrians are occurring at speeds below 40 kilometres per hour.

Volvo has also introduced other innovations in recent years, which includes such as the pedestrian detection system with automatic braking, or the system City Safety ¸ for the
vehicle if the driver does not react in time when the front car is slowed or stops, or if the vehicle goes too fast to another standing.

The success of this technology is demonstrated by the fact that insurance companies have fallen by 25% to the overall amount of the policy to the Volvos that have installed these systems.

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Posted by Farasat Ali on May 26 2012. Filed under Sci-Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry