Crash Test 2013 Volvo XC60! - The Downshift Episode 51
During my visit to the Volvo crash test laboratory in Gothenburg, Sweden, my career had come driving loop the loop Aged 16, in my first driving lesson with my father in his 1980 Volvo 240 GL, I am happy when I engaged first gear without stalling But I forgot to straighten the wheel, panicked, and the car ended up on the road, ringbarking a tree and take a sapling Repairs would cost more than the value of the beast aged 12, he was written off.
The only real damage was metal, two trees and my ego is lowered into the folklore of the family as a bit of a life of laughter continued.
But life doesn t always go to the United Arab Emirates, the road death statistics - 963 people killed in 2009 on the roads of the UAE - confirm this.
Volvo was the completion of crash tests since the late 1960s and in 2000, it built a crash test facility dedicated to this purpose - Volvo Cars Safety Center is a circular building with cameras to film accidents all angles the cars can be crushed inside and outside, and a mobile track allows cars collide and walls, rocky sections and grassy slopes.
On our trip, the engineers set up three crash tests, each with courses for all UAE drivers But a test that spectacularly wrong are proves that accidents can happen anywhere, even in a place dedicated to eradicating them.
The first test was a re-creation of a real frontal crash happened near Gothenburg last October between two Volvo V70, a 1997 and a 2009 model.
1997 V70 was a man aged 42 and his 20 year old son's 2009 V70 was a man aged 39 and his wife aged 36 and old baby them a year Everyone in both cars were wearing seat belts safety of the baby was held in a safety seat facing rearwardly.
We recommend that children in rear facing seats until they are at least three years, said Thomas Broberg, senior safety advisor of the center.
Our group of journalists looked seats raised by a window looking down on the area of the accident within Grimly, he reminded me of an observation gallery for execution There was a 20 countdown and two bright orange V70 hurtled toward each other and crashed with a sickening crunch, flying debris everywhere.
It happened so fast, but as the real crash last October, the two cars were only traveling around 60kph driver fatigue may have been a factor - the driver of the V70 in 1997 had been on the road for a few hours when he veered onto the wrong side of the road.
Given that excessive speed is a cause of 80 percent of fatal road accidents in the UAE, according to the RTA Dubai, an accident at 60kph is a relatively slow accident to the UAE But even at 60kph, both cars written off.
Everyone survived the accident in real life, but the driver of the V70 in 1997 had to be cut without his car because his left leg was trapped, he suffered multiple fractures, including to his sternum and ribs, although his air bag deployed mother in the 2009 V70 suffered dental injuries may be due to a disconnected airbag.
Most sobering of all was to see the crashed cars of the actual crash test alongside V70 - Volvo has a team of experts from the accident which examines real accidents involving Volvos in Sweden, and they collect these cars for studies as evidence of the accuracy of crash test, damage to the car accident and the test car was almost identical.
Surprisingly, there was still dried blood on the airbag V70 1997 real accident The accelerator pedal has been detached, the clutch and the brake had moved to the right, the shift lever had sunk into the center console and bent and deformed dashboard looked like a Picasso cubist painting in 2009 V70, there was much less damage to the dashboard and on the back seat, the baby seat remained in place, he saved without perhaps the life of the child one year old.
After the crash test, Broberg said how it was encouraging to see how the safety features in the V70 model had come since 1997.
The technology to detect signs of fatigue for the man behind the wheel of the old car could have prevented the accident, Broberg hypothesizes.
We now have sensors to monitor the system and recognize patterns of sleepy drivers.
The second test took place outside the Swedish crisp sun It was a test of a preventive technology that engages the brakes if sensors determine that the car approaches an object - in this case, a stationary truck - and the driver doesn t React.
The group held its breath for the countdown of 20 seconds We expected the S60, traveling at 35kph, for engaging accident prevention technology and slow to 12kph and stop just before hitting the back of the truck.
But he didn t follow any plan The car did not slow down and, instead, slammed into the truck speed coolant radiator is a puddle of green water on the floor, almost comical, activated wipers But the violence of a 35kph shock was shocking.
Oh, it was a mishap, said Broberg in giggling But he stressed that even if a misfire test, they can still learn and find out why it went wrong.
The accident prevention technology is the next step in the promotion of automotive safety and something Volvo is committed to, according to Broberg When asked if this technology creates lazy drivers, he disagreed.
No, I have heard this argument but I think most people prefer to be in control and be more in control than just a car drive for them, he said.
The final crash for the day was to send an S80 sedan out of the building at 80 km of trails and out of his career in a ditch The result sent the car dramatically in the air and slamming violently into an embankment The front of S80 was badly damaged but, as evidenced by the two crash test dummies sitting in the front seats, seatbelts and airbags have prevented serious injury to actual occupants.
Both models had his face smeared with lipstick so staff can see that their faces have an impact of their rubbery legs were covered with a white powder, to show where the knees contacted the dashboard and the steering column.
After checking the damage on the final wreck of the day I realized how upsetting nerve point was to attend three simulated car crashes, even in the controlled environment of the laboratory without loss of life.
I asked Peter Janevik, one of the experts of active safety, if he has been desensitized to the shocking nature of these accidents.
You get used to the noise, he shrugged But the tension just before an accident that never goes away.
The center of the accident is intrinsically noble Volvo Safety Plans Our mission is for anyone to be killed or injured in a Volvo car by 2020, said Broberg.
He added that, along with technology such as the design of the chassis, seat belts and airbags that are standard on Volvos and help increase the accident survival rates, the anti-collision technology is already here .
This is the next step - the new V70 eyes - sensors can feel what the driver does or does not do.
Computer technology has also found its way to the crash tests, said Broberg.
We can carry about 400 accidents from real life tests a year at the center, but on our computers we can simulate 50-60 accidents per day Imagine, before a car is still in production, it has been overwritten thousands times.
Volvo is also undertaking a three-year trial of their cars to study driver behavior and collect data on how Volvos can be further developed to improve security in line with human behavior.
A hundred cars, led by volunteers, will be equipped with tiny cameras and black-box technology to monitor everything from driving habits, speed, distance traveled and even bad habits, such as using the phone and drinking coffee while driving.
People can be aware of first so because they know they're being watched, but the cameras are quite well hidden so they forget and go back to picking their nose again, laughed Broberg.
Volvo takeover by Geely, the Chinese carmaker, should not negatively affect the work of security experts, according to Broberg He said that the subtleties of the agreement with Geely are still determined and it is too early to say whether Geely will use Volvo's safety expertise.
But I would like to think they will be, he said.
As I left the center, I saw rows of Volvos awaiting destruction at the hands of crash test experts, all designed to help the target automaker 2020 It's sad end for a new car, but draw the teachings of the execution machine is better than the alternative loss of human life on our roads.
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