Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Volvo V40 Has Worlds First Pedestrian Airbag System
Swedish automaker Volvo has always been known for manufacturing some of the world’s safest vehicles. But now Volvo is looking to not just protect the passengers in the car, but the pedestrians roaming the streets.
We all know accidents happen, and try as we might to prevent them with technology – it’ll still happen because we’re human beings. Volvo is hoping when those accidents happen, they can help prevent serious injury by offering the world’s first Pedestrian Airbag System. That’s right, the poor guy or gal getting hit by a Volvo will land on a fluffy, cushy airbag rather than the hard hood or even worse, the glass windshield.
The Volvo V40, unveiled at this week’s 2012 Geneva Motor Show, will be equipped with the Pedestrian Airbag System alongside its Pedestrian Detection technology that will hopefully prevent a collision with a pedestrian in the first place.
Other automakers have tweaked the design of their hoods to soften the blow of a pedestrian collision, but the Volvo system will detect a vehicle-to-pedestrian accident and respond similar to a vehicle-to-vehicle collision. The system sensors will trigger the section of the hood closest to the windshield to pop up slightly and a U-shaped airbag will deploy from underneath, forming a cushion around the base and sides of the windshield and A-pillars.
Hopefully there aren’t any accidental deployments of the Pedestrian Airbag System – like say, hitting a rock on the freeway while traveling 65-mph. That wouldn’t be good at all.
Watch videos of these new pedestrian-safety technologies from Volvo .
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