Carmakers are all about autonomous technology now-a-days. And considering that over 3,000 people die in road accidents every single day, I would say that it is a worthy pursuit. Along the same, Volvo has announced that its latest XC60 now comes equipped with advanced automated steering and braking systems that is capable of stepping in to prevent accidents as and when needed.
The all new XC60 is making its first public appearance at the Geneva Motor Show. Elaborating on the car’s capabilities, Volvo said that the self-driving software that forms the core of the XC60 is able to take over when it deems a collision imminent and starts implementing preventive measures to avoid the same.
The SUV has a slew of sensors that allow it to alert drivers when their driving threatens to pose a danger to themselves and to others. For instance, the car will alert drivers when it starts drifting out of its correct lane. What’s more, if the vehicle believes that its current path will take it on an imminent collision course before the driver can react, it will take over and steer itself back to the correct lane. The system will kick into operation at highway speeds.
The new XC60 also has a feature that will allow it to alert drivers to the presence of cars that are not in his line of sight, that is, cars that are in his/her blind spot. If the driver appears to be unable or unwilling to react in time, the car will take evasive measures on its own and take itself to safety before transferring control back to the driver.
Meanwhile, it is interesting to see manufacturers moving to the next level of vehicular evolution. First, the pressure was upon creating systems that could respond to alert drivers to danger in time but of late, it has shifted to systems that can take over and prevent the accident from happening without waiting for the driver to act. The systems are certainly needed because one, human reflexes aren’t necessarily fast enough to act on the alerts, and two, if the drivers can ignore what is happening right before their eyes — they can probably ignore warnings and alerts as well.
As such, systems like the one implemented in Volvo’s XC60 could go a long way in preventing accidents from taking place.
