Volvo cars will ‘see’ accidents before you do

You’re driving down a winding road and suddenly your car alerts you there’s been an accident ahead. As you slowly decelerate and come around the next corner you see a crashed car in your lane. Thanks to the warning you were able to react in good time.

The new Accident Ahead Alert safety feature from Volvo alerts drivers to accidents ahead using real-time data from a traffic management centre. The feature is designed to alert the driver about a traffic accident up to a few hundred metres ahead and is being introduced in compatible Volvo cars in Denmark before being rolled out in the rest of Europe. The Accident Ahead Alert feature is available on all 90, 60 and 40 series Volvo cars from model year 2016 onwards

“Our Accident Ahead Alert can help Volvo drivers avoid unpleasant surprises while contributing to making roads safer for all,” said Volvo Cars Safety Centre head Asa Haglund.

Volvo Cars’ connected safety technology was introduced in 2016 and uses Volvo Cars’ cloud, based on real-time data. It allows Volvo cars to communicate with each other and alert drivers of nearby slippery road conditions and hazards. In the same way, drivers can now be alerted to accidents ahead regardless of the time of day.

To make roads safer, Volvo has called for more road authorities to share anonymous traffic accident data and encourage other carmakers to join in offering similar technologies.

Said Stine Bendsen, head of the Danish Traffic Management Centre at the Danish Road Directorate: “A quick alert about an accident ahead gives the driver more time to slow down and increase the distance to the car in front. This helps to lower the risk of follow-up collisions and protect the people working to clear the road.”