New technology connects cyclists and cars

The technology consists of a connected car and helmet prototype that will establish two-way communication offering proximity alerts to Volvo drivers and cyclists and thereby avoid accidents.

The global growth in cycling, including South Africa, continues unabated as commuters and sport cyclists take to their bikes. This has resulted in an increase in serious cycling accidents, an issue that Volvo Cars and POC believes is unacceptable and requires an innovative and concerted effort to address.

Volvo Cars' City Safety system - standard on the all-new Volvo XC90 as well as the rest of the Volvo range - is a technology that can detect, warn and auto-brake to avoid collisions with cyclists. It was the industry's first step to seriously address cyclist safety. This commitment has paved the way for the innovative helmet technology concept.

Position shared

Using a smartphone app for cyclists, like Strava, the cyclist's position can be shared through the Volvo cloud to the car, and vice versa. If an imminent collision is calculated, both road users will be warned, and enabled to take the necessary action to avoid a potential accident. The Volvo driver will be alerted to a cyclist nearby through a head-up display alert - even if he happens to be in a blind spot, e.g. behind a bend or another vehicle or hardly visible during night time. The cyclist will be warned via a helmet-mounted alert light.

"The partnership between Volvo Cars, POC and Ericsson is an important milestone in investigating the next steps towards Volvo Cars' vision to build cars that will not crash. But now, by exploring cloud-based safety systems, we are getting ever closer to eliminating the remaining blind spots between cars and cyclists and by that avoid collisions," commented Klas Bendrik, vice president and Group CIO at Volvo Cars.

"Our mission is to do the best we can to possibly save lives and to reduce the consequences of accidents for gravity sports athletes and cyclists. The partnership with Volvo Cars aligns very well with our mission and we are excited to see how we can contribute to cyclist safety and increase interaction between cars and cyclists alike," Stefan Ytterborn, CEO and founder of POC added.

Per Borgklint, senior vice president and head of Business Unit Support Solutions at Ericsson, said there is perhaps no greater promise that the networked society holds than its ability to create connections that save lives. "Our latest work with Volvo Cars to explore protecting the millions of cyclists on the road is just the latest example of innovation that can change the world."