Volvo’s slippery road warning shared information with other cars
Last year, Volvo announced it would begin vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) testing that would allow cars to share information about road conditions via a cloud-based network. When the program began, just 50 cars were involved, but now, the automaker has announced that it’ll be increasing that number to a whopping 1,000.
The program is the result of a collaboration between Volvo Cars, the Swedish Transport Administration, and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Through this testing, Volvo hopes to have the technology available to the public within a few years.
Not only is Volvo expanding the number of vehicles it’s testing, but it’s also expanding its testing areas to include two new Scandinavian cities—Oslo and Gothenburg. This will allow the automaker to test out the technology in real-world conditions in order to perfect it before releasing it to the public via its connected cars.
“The more information that can be shared on the road, the fewer surprises there are. And when you’re driving, surprises are what you most want to avoid,” explained Erik Israelsson, Project Leader Cooperative ITS (Intelligent Transport System) at Volvo Cars. “In light of that, we’ve developed a slippery-road alert, which notifies drivers about icy patches and contributes to making winter road maintenance more efficient. We’re also adding a hazard-light alert, which will tell drivers if another vehicle in the area has its hazard lights on. With these first two features, we have a great platform for developing additional safety features. This is just the beginning.”
Volvo’s slippery-road alert allows vehicles to share information on icy patches with other drivers so they are prepared for hazards that lie ahead. Not only that, but this information will also be available to road administrators, allowing them to more easily plan and execute winter road maintenance, as well as quickly address changing road conditions.
It’s all part of Volvo’s Vision 2020 commitment, which aims to have no fatalities or serious injuries in its vehicles by 2020.
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