According to a recent report at J.D. Power’s Automotion blog, the 2015 Volvo XC90 will communicate with other vehicles and the environment.
“Volvo wants to reduce to zero the number of people who are killed while driving or riding in its latest generation of cars and SUVs by 2020. The company says that its Car 2 Car communication system allows the new XC90 to communicate with other vehicles and with the environment, and that its approach to meeting its goal is to develop autonomous vehicles that can ‘move safely in environments with non-autonomous vehicles and unprotected road users.'”
Why did I suddenly think of the animated Cars movie after reading that last paragraph? “Hey, Mater! Move out of the way!” Seriously, it sounds like a good system for safety. If cars can communicate with each other and automatically detect and avoid dangerous situations that is a good thing. Another article points out that the new XC90 will have three other safety features: (1) Pedestrian detection in darkness, (2) Road edge and barrier detection with steer assist, and (3) Adaptive Cruise Control with steer assist.
All of this is great as is Volvo’s desire to have zero fatalities in any of their cars by the year 2020. But let’s make one thing very clear. It is still the driver’s responsibility to drive the car. That’s what I tell my Volvo customers regarding City Safety. “It’s a great safety system to assist when you are distracted. But don’t ever get into the habit of relying on it. You still have the responsibility to drive the vehicle.”
Here’s hoping that a combination of Volvo’s safety innovations and careful drivers will keep the highways safe for us all.