Taking what it calls “a holistic view” of truck safety, Volvo Truck Corp. put together a two-day seminar at its headquarters in Goteberg, Sweden, highlighting research efforts to understand the causes behind many types of common truck accidents and demonstrating advanced safety technologies it is developing as a result of that research.
Addressing reporters from 32 major national truck markets around the world, the seminar focused on active safety systems designed to assist drivers.
“A skilled and concentrated driver is the basic factor for safe driving,” said Lars-Goran Lowenadler, director of product & traffic safety for Volvo Truck. “We can never relieve him of his responsibilities, but we can help him to tackle challenging situations better. … In reality, this means that we must adapt the truck to the driver’s abilities and limitations, not the other way around.”
The truck maker divided its advanced safety systems into four general areas:
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Driver awareness support for aiding drowsy or distracted drivers
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Headway support for maintaining safe following distances and collision avoidance
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Advanced vehicle dynamics for roll-over protection
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Driver visibility support for eliminating blind spots.
The international press also saw presentations from Volvo Truck’s accident research team and its experts on ergonomics and driver interactions with vehicle controls.
