Accident Ahead Alert Overview
Volvo Cars has revealed an advanced safety feature called Accident Ahead Alert, which utilizes real-time data from a traffic management center. This feature aims to enhance drivers’ proactiveness, prevent secondary collisions during an accident, and reduce traffic congestion.
In collaboration with the Danish Road Directorate and Data for Road Safety ecosystem, Volvo Cars has launched Accident Ahead Alert in Denmark on all 90, 60, and 40 series vehicles from model year 2016 onward. According to Volvo, Accident Ahead Alert will soon be available in other parts of Europe.
“Using our groundbreaking connected safety technology, our Accident Ahead Alert can help Volvo drivers avoid unpleasant surprises while contributing to making roads safer for all,” said Åsa Haglund, head of Volvo Cars Safety Centre.
Advanced Warnings for Greater Safety
Accident Ahead Alert is a connected car technology that can detect an accident up to a few hundred meters ahead of the vehicle. The feature alerts the driver, allowing them more time to slow down and avoid a collision, as well as preventing harm to roadside assistance providers.
“A quick alert about an accident ahead gives the driver more time to slow down and increase the distance to the car in front,” said Stine Bendsen, head of the Danish Traffic Management Centre at the Danish Road Directorate. “This helps to lower the risk of follow-up collisions and protect the people working to clear the road.”
Volvo Cars has earned respect in the automotive industry for maintaining a heritage of safety innovation – starting with the three-point safety belt and introducing Slippery Road Alert and Hazard Light Alert in 2016, which issues warnings to drivers about slippery road conditions. Accident Ahead Alert is the next step in Volvo’s ongoing commitment to road safety.
“Thanks to our collaboration with the Danish Road Directorate and other partners in the Data for Road Safety ecosystem, we can introduce this new feature and continue our leadership in safety innovations,” Haglund said.
Activation & Opting In
Accident Ahead Alert acquires real-time data from the Volvo Cars’ cloud integrated with the Danish Traffic Management Center to help the driver decelerate and maintain distance from the crashed vehicle.
To activate this feature in a compatible Volvo car, the driver must turn on data sharing by accessing the “connected safety” option in the center display. Once completed, the driver will receive warnings in case of an accident, indicated by hazard light alerts in the dashboard or the heads-up display.
“Rest assured that only the essential information will be shared with other cars, and the data will be anonymized to ensure your privacy,” Volvo Cars said in a statement.
Looking Ahead
Volvo Cars is encouraging automobile brands to devise safety technologies similar to Accident Ahead Alert. The Swedish manufacturer is also encouraging other road authorities and national traffic management centers to share anonymous traffic accident data feeds to empower such safety technologies.
“We’re happy that Volvo Cars as the first car maker has started using our new real-time traffic event data feed,” Bendsen said.
