A radar fitted to the latest Volvo scans the road ahead and if it judges that the car is about to collide with a cyclist, it automatically applies the car’s full braking power.
The ‘Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake’ system was designed to recognise the leg and arm movements of pedestrians, but during testing it was found to successfully detect and react to cyclists who were at risk of being struck by the car.
In such a situation, the driver first gets a flashing light in the windscreen’s head-up display that looks like a brake light in front of the vehicle. This warning is intended to prompt an immediate, intuitive reaction from the driver.
Car applies brakes when driver fails to respond
Should the driver fail to respond to the warning and the system assesses that a collision is imminent, the car is brought to a complete stop.
Above 12.5mph, the system will not bring the car to a complete standstill but reduce the speed as much as possible. In most cases, it is able to reduce the collision force by about 75 per cent.
The technology will be fitted to the Volvo S60 in 2010.
A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “Car manufacturers have to strike a delicate balance when promoting technology that is able to take control away from the driver as it is likely to make some motorists nervous, but there is no escaping the fact that auto brake systems pave the way for entirely autonomous and crash-proof vehicles.”
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