How Volvo Cars plans to end all traffic fatalities by 2020

Safety is a science-based religion at Volvo. Their latest project, Vision 2020, sets the goal of eliminating death in all of their new cars in two years time. For most companies that would seem a lofty goal, but this is the company that invented the three-point seatbelt which is used in cars today.

Protecting and caring for people is at the heart of Volvo Cars’ philosophy. The Volvo brand is strongly connected with safety and the environment – and this approach has given the company a competitive advantage through the years. Volvo’s Vision 2020 is the framework for the company’s aim to maintain leadership in the field of safety and the environment. 

Traditionally, Volvo Cars has been associated with protective safety systems. In recent years, more and more features related to preventive safety have been introduced so that the company can remain the first choice for safety-conscious car buyers. 

Three-point Safety Belt, Rearward-facing Child Safety Seat, Side Impact Protection System, Whiplash Protection System, Inflatable Curtain, Roll-Over Protection System, City Safety, Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake, Run-off Road Protection are some of the groundbreaking safety features that Volvo has introduced to the world. 

All of Volvo’s new generation models such as Volvo XC90, Volvo S90 and Volvo XC60 have won ‘Top Safety Pick’ Award by IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, USA). IIHS conducts vehicle tests to determine crashworthiness, which is the degree to which a vehicle protects its occupants in a crash. It also rates vehicles for front crash prevention which takes place through systems that warn the driver or brake automatically to avoid or mitigate a frontal collision. 

 “The next step is to go outside the car. Tomorrow’s cars will start to communicate with other road users. If we can do this so well that cars no longer collide and can avoid accidents involving other road users, we will be talking about a different kind of car than today,” stated Lex Kerssemakers, Senior Vice President, Brand, Business and Product Strategy at Volvo Cars.