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Volvo unveils new pedestrian and cyclist protection on buses

Company aims to reduce 1.25m annual road deaths

Volvo has unveiled its new pedestrian and cyclist detection system for buses, part of its promise to introduce death-proof cars and vehicles by the year 2020.

The system will be introduced on Volvo’s European city bus fleet in 2017, and the company says it will make inroads to reduce the 1.25 million annual road traffic deaths worldwide.

Peter Danielsson, Director Vehicle Features and Safety at Volvo Buses said: “Accidents involving buses and unprotected road-users seldom occur, but when they do the consequences may be very serious. In order to minimise the risks, it is important that drivers and anyone moving around near buses – such as at bus stops and pedestrian crossings – pays close attention to the traffic. In this context the Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection System offers excellent support.”

The Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection System continuously monitors the bus’s vicinity using a camera.

When the system detects unprotected road-users near the bus, it transmits a sound to warn other road-users that the bus is approaching.

At the same time, the driver is alerted via sound and light signals inside the vehicle. If there is an imminent risk of an incident, the bus’s horn is activated.

“Several of the components in our system are based on the same tried and tested technology found in many cars. But we are the only vehicle manufacturer to offer a solution that simultaneously notifies both driver and unprotected road-user,” says Peter Danielsson.

The company said that as the proportion of electrified vehicles in urban traffic continues to grow, exhaust fumes and noise disappear, but creates the need to eliminate any risks of road users not hearing vehicles approaching.

“The bus can be heard – but without being disruptive. We’ve solved this problem by developing a synthetic background sound with a frequency range that is not perceived as disruptive. For instance, it does not penetrate windows with triple glazing, unlike the low-frequency noise made by a diesel engine,” said Danielsson.

Volvo coaches are used by a number of private hire firms in the UK, but their municipal city buses are more popular in mainland Europe and Scandinavia.

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9 comments

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CXR94Di2 | 7 years ago
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I can see your point, I view it differently. These systems while passive mainly, could probably save the driver and potential other party from having an accident, either by poor judgement or unseen movement. Only time will tell if Volvo crash statistics fall, they seem very positive about having no fatalities from their cars by 2020. Lets hope so

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kitsunegari | 7 years ago
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A concern with all these systems is that they encourage the driver to be lazy.

When 100% automated transport is a reality then perhaps yes its a good thing, until then? It's a risk.

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DaveE128 | 7 years ago
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I feel slightly uncomfortable with the term "unprotected road users". Am I the only one? It sounds a little bit like "road users who have foolishly turned down the option of using one of our steel cages, at their own risk." Am I being oversensitive? 

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Mungecrundle | 7 years ago
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I reckon this kind of technology is the short term benefit from the, ahem, drive to autonomous cars. Road traffic accident rates and fatalities in the UK have dropped dramatically in the last 20 years for all groups except....cyclists. A lot of this is due to the introduction of passive and active technologies designed to protect car occupants and mandatory protection for pedestrians in low speed collisions. All the tech in the world is not going to stop the pathologically aggressive driver with a manual override, but I'd like to think that most RTAs are caused by people who went out with no intent to harm anyone and this kind of technology will help them.

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CXR94Di2 | 7 years ago
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I have the latest Volvo car with its pedestrian and cycle safety features. I tried today adaptive autocruise behind a cyclist, it detected the rider and slowed down to their speed and kept the distance(2 second rule) Volvo is supposed to slam on the anchors in the event a pedestrian or cyclist crosses the path of my car. Don't fancy trying that one out, hopefully I never will but it's nice to know there are systems on board that should intervene in an emergency.

Update. Whilst waiting for a pedestrian to cross a zebra crossing. The first pedestrian went across, but just as I was moving off another pedestrian decided to dart for a quick crossing. Before I had chance to press the brake the car jolted to a stop. So Volvo tech in that instance reacted faster than me.

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Griff500 | 7 years ago
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"Dubbed the Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection System, the technology relies on a camera to scan the bus' surroundings and then an image-processing system and algorithms to detect pedestrians and cyclists. If the danger is low, the bus emits a sound in a frequency designed to cause minimal disruption. But if there is a real and immediate risk of an accident, the horn is automatically activated."

A few plumber's vans in my area already activiate the horn when a cyclist is in the vicinity!

Serious point though, credit to Volvo for taking a lead on this. 360 degree camera on large vehicles is a great idea, with or without the image processing add-on.

 

 

 

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ridein | 7 years ago
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Does the driver see the boxes shown as a heads-up display of a potential risk along with the non-disruptive alerts to the other road users? If not then this is just another technology that is victim blaming. That said, this would still be a technology improvement.

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rggfddne | 7 years ago
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For all the barrage of negative press we get regarding cycle safety, it seems easy to forget this sort of thing is happening with a frequency bordering on monotony now.

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hawkinspeter | 7 years ago
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Excellent. Let's hope other manufacturers roll out similar systems to other dangerous vehicles - might well save a few lives.

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