POC, Volvo and Ericsson will present an innovative safety technology connecting drivers and cyclists for the first time ever at International CES in Las Vegas Jan. 6-9.
The technology consists of a connected car and helmet prototype that will establish 2-way communication offering proximity alerts to Volvo car drivers and cyclists and thereby avoid accidents. No car manufacturer has previously put a stake in the ground to help address the problem by using “Connected Safety” technology – until now.
“The partnership with Volvo Cars aligns very well with our mission to do the best we can to possibly save lives and to reduce the consequences of accidents for gravity sports athletes and cyclists,” said Stefan Ytterborn, CEO and Founder of POC, a Swedish maker of helmets, apparel and other safety gear for cycling, skiing and other outdoor sports that is owned by Black Diamond Inc.
Using a popular smartphone app for bicyclists, like Strava, the cyclist's position can be shared through the Volvo Cars cloud to the car, and vice versa. If an imminent collision is calculated, both road users will be warned – and enabled to take the necessary action to avoid a potential accident. As shown in the image to the left, the Volvo driver will be alerted to a cyclist nearby through a head-up display alert – even if he happens to be in a blind spot, e.g. behind a bend or another vehicle or hardly visible during night time. The cyclist will be warned via a helmet-mounted alert light.
The concept is a result of an all-Swedish partnership between Volvo Cars, POC and Ericsson, the communications technology and services company. The companies think the cloud-based safety concept has exciting development opportunities and will ultimately help save lives across the whole spectrum of “unprotected” road users.
“The partnership between Volvo Cars, POC and Ericsson is an important milestone in investigating the next steps towards Volvo Car's vision to build cars that will not crash,” said Klas Bendrik, VP and Group CIO at Volvo Cars. “Today our City Safety system, a standard in the all-new XC90, can detect, warn and auto-brake to avoid collisions with cyclists. By exploring cloud-based safety systems, we are now getting ever closer to eliminating the remaining blind spots between cars and cyclists and by that avoid collisions.”
Accident data from Europe reveals about 50 per cent of all cyclists killed in traffic have collided with a car. Nearly 50,000 cyclist fatalities and injuries in the US every year (NHTSA, Nov 2013).
