Volvo continues to move with steely determination towards its goal of ensuring that no one will be killed or injured in a new Volvo car by 2020.

Volvo Cars head of safety strategy Jan Ivarsson in a statement said: "Zero is the one and only alternative for us. As the leader in car safety we can't accept that people are killed or injured just because they want to transport themselves from A to B."

It the attitude that traffic accidents are an inevitable part of our daily lives that Volvo wants to challenge with its vision.

So how do you achieve a zero-accident rate?

"Time after time we have seen the impossible become reality. This will, of course, also happen in a traffic environment that is considered accident free. But our aim is to come so close to zero that one single car accident is defined as a disaster, not an acceptable part of our daily lives," said Ivarsson.

Volvo has started shifting its focus from protection to prevention and new technologies in their cars include collision warning with auto brake and a “city safety” function that aids in avoiding or preventing an accident.

“Our statistics show that we have reduced the number of severe injuries by approximately 50 percent since the 1960's," said Ivarsson.

Volvo‘s approach to safety is split into five phases:

1. Normal driving: The driver is well informed and can stay alert.
2. Conflict: Technology helps the driver to handle a difficult situation.
3. Avoidance: The car acts automatically to avoid a collision if the driver fails to react.
4. Damage reduction: The car's safety systems help to reduce the crash energy in order to minimize the effect on the occupants.
5. After collision: The car automatically calls for assistance and facilitates the rescue work.

"The main challenge is to keep the driver in the normal driving mode. To reach our zero vision, we have to deal with most of the potential issues already in this stage, and preferably help the driver back to normal mode if a critical situation occurs," said Ivarsson.

Volvo believes that for safety technology to work in the future cars must be able to communicate and exchange information with the infrastructure and other vehicles on the road. In principle, a future Volvo can "speak" to an oncoming vehicle, maybe communicating: "You and I are about to collide head on. If our drivers don't react we have to do something. Let's steer clear of the danger."

The major challenge to make this scenario possible is to find a common language for the communication. A Volvo has to be able to communicate with vehicles of other makes and all vehicles have to be able to exchange information with the traffic environment.

"We believe that the key is to use systems that are already available for other purposes. The air around us is already charged with communication, most of it used for pleasure or convenience. Adding traffic safety communication to this existing architecture is a far more sensible route than trying to invent and agree on a completely new "language" for communicating in the traffic environment," said Ivarsson.

The quest for an accident-free future also includes a close co-operation with other manufacturers and organisations.

Volvo is currently working together with the Swedish Road Administration in order to promote the co-operation between vehicles and the infrastructure.

"They also have a zero vision, so we have mutual interests. We are co-ordinating our efforts and research projects in order to maximise the results," said Ivarsson.

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