“Our safety vision sets high goals for us at Volvo Trucks. We have made substantial progress and are committed to leading the way. Our current safety offer represents a big step towards an accident-free future. Many of our safety innovations and initiatives are making the difference on roads around the world. Other manufacturers have adopted many of these innovations – and we take pride in this, but there is so much more that must be done. We promise to do our part, as well as continue to actively participate in projects and activities with others for a safer society. Our commitment to being a pioneer in safety innovation is stronger than ever. You can see it in our trucks today – and you’ll see it in the Indian roads tomorrow,” asserts Mr. Dinakar B, Senior Vice President – Sales, Marketing and Aftermarket, Volvo Trucks India, VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd., while sharing his thoughts on the above topic.
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Mandatory and other safety requirements
At Volvo, safety lies at the core of the business. Keeping this core value in mind, we offer trucks having extensive safety features. We take great pride in our offerings. Our engineers are working hard to design and develop new and improved features that will help save lives and avoid injuries. Extensive testing is a vital part of this work. This is why we have our own state-of-the-art testing facility and perform crash tests that go beyond what is required by the authorities. In fact, no one else does them. Our cabs are also subjected to the Swedish barrier test – the toughest in the world.
Results from our tests have helped us to develop among the strongest cabs in the industry. For example, we have used high-strength materials such as dual-phase steel in collision-absorbing beams in the doors. The body paneling uses the strongest steel available today – ultra-high strength, thermoset, press-molded boron steel. With these new grades of steel, we have been able to build a stronger cab without increasing its weight or compromising payload capacity. Our tests have also led directly to many innovative safety features such as the Front Underrun Protection System, an escape hatch and the use of laminated glass – just to name a few examples.
Intelligence at work – But even the safest cabs can only do so much. This is why we are particularly focused on the interplay between driver, truck and the surrounding traffic. This interplay calls for even more intelligent trucks, since the vehicles of tomorrow will need to be able to communicate with one another and the surrounding environment. We are determined to help make it happen.
The Volvo i-Shift is best in class AMT (automated mechanical transmission) that allows the driver to completely focus on driving while the I-Shift manages the gear shifts effectively based on the speed, load and the gradient and terrain. The I-Shift guarantees optimum shifting thus ensuring better fuel efficiency almost 3% better than the manual transmission. Driver fatigue is also reduced substantially and the driver is able to focus on the road which also helps avoid accidents.
However, in the latest FMX i-shift, an additional safety feature of auto parking brake has been introduced where the parking brake is automatically engaged once the engine is turned off.
Additionally, there are many other features like the Air suspended seats; the controls on the steering wheel, the easy glance instrument cluster etc., that are designed around the driver for safety, comfort and productivity which appeals to our customers.If we take the new Volvo FH as an example, we can see how the shape of the rearview is optimized for the best balance between direct visibility forward and the best possible view to the rear, while contributing to the truck’s identity. Inside the cab the logical structure and placement of instruments and controls, as well as the clean, uncluttered design of the dashboard avoids distracting the driver and keeps focus on the road. Rounded corners minimize risk of injuries in a crash.
Measures for reducing accidents on road
Since 1969 Volvo’s Accident Research Team (ART) has investigated thousands of traffic accidents. Through the team’s close collaboration with Volvo Trucks’ product development, its findings have a big impact: both in developing technical solutions to increase safety and through the global spread of Volvo Trucks’ safety philosophy.
Both crash tests and accident simulations build on certain standard types of traffic accidents. The problem is that reality is always different. No accident is exactly like any other. We examine the damaged truck thoroughly. Out in the field and afterwards, in our workshops, we are able to discover things, for example, that we might protect the driver so well against a certain type injury that other types of damage happen instead. After a while, we begin seeing a trend in a specific direction. If that happens, we change our crash tests, our simulations and our product design to better match the latest developments in driving behaviour and infrastructure.
Safety apprehension at higher road speeds
Increasing speed limits in the current context of GST era will further enhance the ease of freight movement. While increased speed limits helps in faster turnaround of freight and lower the freight inventory on wheels, it is more important to focus on the safety aspect and thereby the push from Govt to mandate additional safety related technologies to be implemented like Speed governors are made mandatory in all the commercial vehicles by the Govt.
Volvo trucks feature the best in class safety features to improve safety, efficiency as well as driver productivity. Some of the class leading features include safest cab tested through toughest Swedish norms, energy absorbing cabin, three-point safety belt, electronic braking system that creates smooth brake interactions and better stability, better visibility through powerful windscreen wipers and redesigned rear-view mirrors, I-shift technology through which driver can focus more on the driving than gear-shifting, etc. Through our years of research on accidents through ART, we truly understand the personal loss and also the loss to society and the economy because of accidents and hence we constantly innovate and design, develop the safest solutions for the industry.
Cabin and body building safety standards
When it comes to the cabins and special bodies being built by third party body builders (i.e., other than OEM’s) – this has been a practice for years due to various reasons. But when it comes to safety standards, poor quality of these cabins and other superstructure is one of the prime reasons for fatalities in the road accidents as per survey reports of Govt. The traffic environment is often increasingly complex and stressful. Even the most skilled drivers face dangerous situations that are difficult to handle without assistance. Our challenge is to create a working environment that actively supports the driver in every situation, and that identifies when the driver is tired or inattentive. With the expansion and modernization of the highway network that is fueling a revolution in the transportation industry where basic trucks are giving way to new-age commercial vehicles. With better engines and aerodynamically designed bodies, we will be able to cover greater distances, thereby generating more revenue for fleet owners.