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After watching the accidents that appeared in the Japanese Grand Prix last weekend it not only brought into focus the very high level of safety now in F1 cars but also the fact that even the precautions fitted to the cars can’t allow for the very infrequent freak accident that happened to Jules Bianchi, our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

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Much of the F1 technology has been transferred across to normal road cars, from tyres to brakes and traction control. Fatalities on UK roads are dropping, as is the seriousness of the injuries received by those caught up in the accidents. Volvo, known for their very high safety standards, have stated that by 2020 no one will be killed or seriously injured in their cars.

But having said that the EU believes there is more to be done across the board and has set targets for the introduction of automatic systems into all new type-approved cars that will automatically alert the emergency services should the car be involved in an accident along with a locator that will advise the emergency services the exact location of the vehicle.

The plan was to make this statutory from the start of 2015 but the car industry said it needed at least 3 years to test and implement such a scheme. They also need to decide upon an acceptable method of advising the emergency services across Europe. Some prestige cars already have an emergency system fitted into the car but it requires someone to activate it which then dials into the manufacturers own call centre who then has to do something to alert the emergency services.

Some have suggested the use of mobile phones but they are not too accurate when pinpointing location and an automatic alert app. would need to sense when the phone flies across a car in an accident. eCall is a device proposed by the EU in 2004 and is already being used by some manufacturers.

It is a box that detects an accident through sensors mounted in the car, calls the emergency services and pinpoints the location but the system still needs refinement and certainly won’t be ready for the launch date proposed by the EU, now moved back to October 2015. According to Volvo’s own system, On Call’s, product manager, Michael L Sena the industry would need a further 3 years before every new car was fitted with such a device. He also saw problems with setting up the infrastructure across Europe for the same device to work in every EU country.

It was a massive task and not one that could be completed in less than a year. He also pointed out the legal implications around data protection, human rights etc. many drivers would not be happy with someone somewhere knowing of their every move and being able to track them, something I touched on recently in one of my blogs.

The argument to that is that the system doesn’t track you, it only activates in the event of an accident. It is likely to happen though, as earlier in the year the EU voted for ‘the deployment of the necessary infrastructure’ to accommodate the new eCall system across Europe. So it should now be under way. By Graham Hill

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No sooner have I reported on the new association between General Motors and LG to develop new electric cars than I’m told of the new association between Volvo and Siemens to do the same. It very much looks as though this will be the trend. Apparently Siemens have been having discussions with several car manufacturers but decided upon Volvo Read more »

Volvo are about to move the breathalyzer onto another level. They currently have a system called the Alcoguard breathalyser whereby you have to blow into it and be below the legal limit before you are able to start the car. The new system relies upon the driver’s sweat to monitor the level of alcohol in the system. The newly developed system is still at an early stage but Chris Wailes of Volvo said that the new technology Read more »

The key is – well, in the key, according to some road safety experts. We already have keys that chat away to the car’s engine management systems and record service information then transmit it to your local dealer. We now have an Alco-Lock which requires the driver to blow into the key and if they are over the limit the key won’t allow them to drive by locking up the immobiliser. Until the reading drops below the Read more »

There are now 3 EU research projects under way to trial ‘talking’ cars, which can communicate with each other and road infrastructure such as traffic signs, lights and congestion management centres. Vehicles will receive information about hazards ahead such as congestion, accidents, oil spills, potholes, debris etc. Drivers will then be alerted by dashboard communications. Developed into prototypes by three Read more »

A group of companies including Ricardo and Volvo Cars are working on new technology that will allow for road trains to be created whereby regular users of a motorway can lock onto each other forming a train of vehicles kept at a constant speed and distance enabling the drivers to get on with other things such as work and phone calls. Much of the technology is already available such as sat nav, distance sensors and Read more »

I’m not sure how useful this information is or what real conclusions can be drawn but I found it interesting so am passing it on. Under the Freedom of  Information Act the BBC obtained data regarding MOT failures and Business Car  analysed the figures to identify which cars had the highest pass rates and which cars had the highest fail rate. The statistics are based on 2004 registered cars that were MOT tested for the Read more »

I can’t believe I’m writing this piece but I felt it should be included. It’s to do with pregnant women and the wearing of seat belts. Volvo, who is the only car manufacturer to have a pregnant test dummy (look – leave it – I’m just reporting it OK) called Linda, it’s true, the bloody dummy is called Linda – good grief. Anyway, Volvo, on a very serious point says ‘car safety for unborn children is rarely documented as foetal injury and deaths often do not show in statistics.’ As a result of extensive tests with Linda they have found Read more »