A safety innovation from Volvo has won a prestigious award. Pedestrian detection with full auto brake, first used in the new Volvo S60, has received the Plus X Award in the Innovation category and can now call itself ‘Best Product of the Year 2010′.
This system prevents collisions with pedestrians or, at higher speeds, reduces the consequences of an accident. A jury of 144 jurors from 32 nations decided in favor of the technological innovation from the Chinese-owned Swedish manufacturer.
Pedestrian detection with full auto brake combines a newly developed radar unit in the front grille and a camera at the level of the rear-view mirror in an effective system that spots pedestrians on the road ahead of the vehicle. If the driver fails to respond in time in this situation, the system automatically activates full braking power.
Half of all accidents involving pedestrians occur at speeds of less than 25km/h. The new Volvo system can completely prevent accidents of this type up to a speed of 35km/h. At higher speeds the system ensures maximum deceleration and therefore substantially reduces the consequences of an accident. But the system has had some teething problems; several recent demonstrations have ended badly as the system has failed— with journalists watching and filming —to prevent the test car hitting a vehicle parked in front.
The Plus X Award , the world’s largest competition of its type, honours manufacturers for products of particularly outstanding quality. More than 1,000 products from all sectors of technology, sport, and lifestyle were submitted for this year’s competition. The categories judged were innovation, high quality, design, ease of operation/functionality, ergonomics, and ecology.
