Trucks and Cars Can Now Chat Together About Traffic Conditions

SWEDEN – NORWAY – WORLDWIDE – Volvo Trucks is to introduce a cloud-based service, Connected Safety, to allow Volvo commercial vehicles and Volvo cars to automatically alert each other to hazardous traffic situations. Connected Safety was developed to send out alerts to nearby vehicles connected to the service whenever a driver activates the vehicle's hazard warning lights.

Volvo Trucks is now rolling out its version of the Connected Safety services in its trucks, two years after the passenger car version was launched, which will enable trucks and cars to alert each other to potential hazards, made possible through the two companies’ sharing safety-related data between their respective clouds. Carl Johan Almqvist, Traffic and Product Safety Director at Volvo Trucks, commented:

"Expanded cooperation between different players is one of the most important keys to improved road safety. If more vehicles are able to exchange real-time information about the traffic situation, it will lower the risk of accidents. With Connected Safety we are opening the door to the future, with the hope that more vehicle manufacturers will join in.

"A vehicle standing still by the roadside in poor visibility risks being hit from the rear, which can have severe consequences. An alert issued well in advance gives all drivers of nearby cars and trucks the same opportunity to reduce speed, adjust their driving to the traffic situation and avoid a collision.”

When the hazard warning lights are switched on, the truck sends a signal via the driver's Internet-connected mobile phone to Volvo Trucks' cloud service. From there the information is forwarded to the corresponding service at Volvo Cars. An alert is then transmitted to all connected cars and trucks approaching the location of the vehicle whose hazard lights have been activated. In the longer term, the cloud-based service can be expanded with additional safety-enhancing functions. Emanuele Piga, Director Customer Solutions & New Services Development at Volvo Trucks, said:

"As the technology undergoes further refinement and more vehicles are linked to the system, real-time information will become an important complement to the various intelligent safety and driver support systems found in our trucks today. Connected Safety marks the start of a new phase in our ongoing drive to promote safe driving and prevent accidents."

Volvo Trucks will initially introduce Connected Safety on new trucks in Sweden and Norway during 2018, where both Volvo Trucks and Volvo Cars account for a significant proportion of annual new-vehicle registrations. Connected Safety is applicable to the Volvo FH16, Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX equipped with Volvo Trucks' integrated system for services and infotainment, depending on the truck's specification and choice of services.

Additional accident-prevention safety systems for Volvo trucks include Adaptive Cruise Control: active cruise control that helps the driver maintain a pre-set time gap to the vehicle in front, Collision warning with Emergency Brake: designed to alert the driver to the risk of a collision with the vehicle in front and to activate the brakes if necessary, and Driver Alert Support: alerts the driver to stop for a break if the system identifies signs of inattentiveness.