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Road mortality here to stay: Volvo survey
The promise of crash-proof cars fails to make an impact on public opinionThe eternal quest to reduce the world's road toll to zero may not be eternal much longer. Volvo's Vision 2020 mission is aimed at ensuring nobody will be "killed or seriously injured" in a new Volvo from 2020.
But the Swedish manufacturer is encountering some resistance to the possibilities from the general public. Volvo 's UK arm commissioned a survey of motorists in Britain to ascertain what road users want from automotive safety in the future. This year marks the 30th anniversary of mandatory seatbelt use in the UK, so Volvo considered the time was ripe to conduct the survey, while that pivotal safety legislation was at the forefront of public opinion.
Contrary to the efforts of Volvo and other European car companies, most of the respondents in the survey (60 per cent) are not convinced that casualties on the road can be reduced to nil within 10 years. Perhaps that and other responses show we've become hardened to the road trauma we see televised in the nightly news.
"As a nation of sceptics, it is perhaps not surprising the majority of British motorists think the introduction of vehicles which make accidents virtually a thing of the past is not possible but I have every faith in Volvo to prove them wrong!" Nick Connor, MD of Volvo Cars UK was quoted saying in a press release."
According to figures published by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, 60,000 British lives have been saved over the 30-year period since the introduction of legislation to mandate seatbelt wearing.
Other results from the survey – involving 1184 drivers – show that 27 per cent want a car that will drive itself and 56 per cent would be willing to place themselves in the hands of an 'autopilot' for road travel. 45 per cent are in favour of pedestrian safety technology fitted to cars – a subject quite close to the hearts of Volvo's own designers and engineers who developed the pop-up bonnet for the new V40 hatch (pictured).
But just 37 per cent of drivers believe increased speed limits on freeways can be justified by the adoption of new safety technology in cars.
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Written byCarsales Staff
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