Future Volvos to automatically avoid animal collisions

Wild animals have always been an unpredictable hazard for drivers. Last year there were just over 47,000 road accidents involving wild animals in Sweden alone. Thankfully the good people at Volvo have decided to do something about this.

Volvo has announced they are working on technology which will automatically avoid collisions with wild animals by alerting the driver and automatically braking. The company says that the technology will be available on Volvo vehicles sometime in the next few years.

The system, which is based on Volvo’s Pedestrian Detection technologies introduced in 2010, consists of two parts; a radar sensor and an infra-red camera that can register the traffic situation. When an animal is detected on the road ahead by the camera, which is constantly scanning, the system signals the driver. If the driver does not react, the brakes are then automatically applied. The system will also be fully functional during dark as well, as most collisions with wild animals occur at this time during winter months.      

"The goal is for the system to function at the normal rural highway speeds. In cases in which it cannot help the driver entirely avoid the collision, the system will slow down the car sufficiently to help reduce the force of impact and thus of serious injuries," says Andreas Eidehall, technical expert in the field of active safety systems at Volvo Car Corporation.  

Volvo say that they have ‘taught’ the system how to recognise different animals by digitally logging film sequences of animals and their various behavioural patterns at a safari park.

This latest development in road safety is part of Volvo’s vision for 2020 – which states that nobody should suffer serious injury in a new Volvo.