New technology from Volvo is a step toward fewer collisions and could signal an autonomous future for the Swedish carmaker.
Volvo Car Group's new Scalable Product Architecture will provide greater safety for motorists with impact collision that automatically tightens seatbelts, said a company press release.
The automaker is already known for producing exceptionally safe vehicles. According to figures from the Swedish Traffic Accident Data Acquisition, modern Volvo cars have an injury rate around 60 per cent lower than the average modern vehicle in Sweden, a country that has one of the lowest injury rates in the world.
The new Volvo architecture will provide both collision protection and innovative technology to help avoid accidents.
"One of the most important focus areas is to help prevent unintentional road departures by autonomous steering intervention in critical situations. This is the collision type that results in most deaths and serious injuries in modern traffic," Jan Ivarsson, senior manager of safety strategy and requirements, said in the press release.
With "smart belt pre-tension systems," occupants' seat belts will be tightened automatically if an impact is detected. Camera, radar and sensor technologies work together to alert the driver about objects around the car, which will detect and automatically brake for large animals and pedestrians while driving at night.
Adaptive cruise control with steer assist will help in traffic, automatically directing the car to follow the vehicle ahead while in a line, according to the press release.
Volvo and other carmakers are swiftly moving toward an autonomous future for the auto industry and hope that self-driving vehicles will lower the number of collisions.
"Allowing the car to act automatically is crucial when moving towards the vision that future cars will not crash at all. Technologies enabled by our new architecture will bring us closer to this ultimate goal," Jan Ivarsson said.
The company didn't state exactly when the new technology would be implemented into production.
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