[QUOTE][B]A new [URL="http://www.thelocal.se/tag/Volvo"]Volvo[/URL] V40 hatchback, equipped with the latest in safety features including the first ever “external“ airbag system, was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show on Tuesday. [/B]
"The all-new V40 makes an instant impression with a dramatic design that stands out from the crowd. And what you see is what you get. It has pretty much everything," says Volvo’s Håkan Abrahamsson in a statement.
[B][URL="http://www.thelocal.se/gallery/culture/2320/"]Related gallery: Volvo V40 Gallery[/URL][/B]
Among the new features are a world-first pedestrian airbag, a so-called Lane Keeping Aid with haptic auto steering, and a system designed to makes parallel parking easy.
The low-speed collision avoidance system has been further developed so that it now operates at speeds up to 50 km/h.
Production of the new Volvo V40 starts in May 2012. The car will be built in Volvo Car Corporation's plant in Ghent, Belgium.
Talking to the gathered press from the car show in Geneva, CEO Stefan Jacoby wanted to play down all the talk about a financial crisis in Europe.
His stance regarding the situation of the company is optimistic.
“We have increased by four percent globally this year while Europe is down by seven percent. Of course we see the recession in Europe but there are positive signals as well. I look positively at the future,” Jacoby said at the car show.
According to Jacoby the company is not risking over-capacity and will not have to cut down on staff in the near future. In fact, Jacoby foresees a potential recruitment drive over the next few years.
Among Volvo’s many current ventures is the collaboration with owners [URL="http://www.thelocal.se/tag/Geely"]Geely[/URL] in creating a separate Chinese company to be able to manufacture Volvo cars in China.
The hope is that production will begin there in 2013, if the necessary permits can be obtained.
The company is also searching for a new partner to collaborate on the manufacture of the next generation of small cars.
“We are evaluating different options. We have not decided yet. It must be a partner who suits us,” Jacoby said.
[I]TT/Rebecca Martin
[URL="http://twitter.com/#%21/thelocalsweden"]twitter.com/thelocalsweden[/URL][/I][/QUOTE]
[URL]http://www.thelocal.se/39520/20120306/[/URL]
I wonder if it will work good?
Volvo 4 lyfe
I'm driving a Volvo 940 and I couldn't wish for more.
It isn't really explained in the article, but how does this actually work? Internal airbags are set off by the impact, but surely by the time the impact is made on an external pedestrian, the time for airbags would be too late for them? Or am I failing to understand something simple here.
I will always drive a volvo
Volvos are a sexy bunch, sadly I think I will never have one, since they're expensive as fuck in Brazil.
[quote]
Among the new features are a world-first pedestrian airbag[/quote]...Not in my driveway. I don't want my hood getting ripped off by an airbag because some dipshit didn't want to take five seconds out of their busy day to poke their head around the parked van and look at the traffic before running out into the street.
Call me cold if you want, but my hood hinges are worth more than idiots that can't look both ways before crossing, and if the mistake is on my part I deserve the consequences resulting from splattering someone's gran all over my windshield.
[quote], a so-called Lane Keeping Aid with haptic auto steering[/quote] The LAST way to get me interested in your product, carmakers, is to advertise that it will wrench control of it out of my hands whenever it damn well pleases. Also, what guarantee do I have that, ten years from now, these systems won't mistake flying bugs for children and veer me into oncoming traffic at random?
[quote] and a system designed to makes parallel parking easy.[/quote] If you can't parallel park you shouldn't have a license, simple as that.
[QUOTE=Deiru;35024266]It isn't really explained in the article, but how does this actually work? Internal airbags are set off by the impact, but surely by the time the impact is made on an external pedestrian, the time for airbags would be too late for them? Or am I failing to understand something simple here.[/QUOTE] Airbags deploy so quickly that the time between the bumper sensing an impact and the bag inflating is less than the time for the dipshit to make it from the bumper to the bag. They deploy so violently and so fast, matter of fact, that they can kill you if they happen to have an object sitting on them when they detonate. That's why you're advised not to put things on the dashboard of a modern car, not have children in the front seat, and to sit as far from the dashboard as is feasible.
Here's the mentioned Volvo:
[IMG]http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00wBWaZAmCidkQ/Bumper-Car.jpg[/IMG]
Bring back the bricks.
Won't the pedestrian be thrown in to a nearby building or something by the force of the airbag? :v:
[QUOTE=TestECull;35025252]...Not in my driveway. I don't want my hood getting ripped off by an airbag because some dipshit didn't want to take five seconds out of their busy day to poke their head around the parked van and look at the traffic before running out into the street.
[/QUOTE]
And clearly so do they, right?
[QUOTE=TestECull]
The LAST way to get me interested in your product, carmakers, is to advertise that it will wrench control of it out of my hands whenever it damn well pleases.[/QUOTE]
Do you even know what haptic auto steering means? Basically you'll get feedback through the steering wheel if you are drifting out of your lane. Even a slight amount of automatic torque to assist wouldn't be too bad.
If you want to drop the badass shit and think about it for a moment that would be useful for a lot of drivers. Might even safe a tired drivers life.
[QUOTE=TestECull]
Call me cold if you want, but my hood hinges are worth more than idiots that can't look both ways before crossing.[/QUOTE]
I'm not sure about the external airbag thing. Maybe you could run around kicking volvo's to test it. If it's detecting pedestrians it will have to be pretty sensitive, and I wouldn't exactly want an airbag covering my screen if I hit a pothole or something on a corner.
I have always thought of an external airbag system
[QUOTE=SeamanStains;35025468]Do you even know what haptic auto steering means? Basically you'll get feedback through the steering wheel if you are drifting out of your lane.[/quote]
They've already got a solution for that.
[img]http://www.kansascyclist.com/news/wp-content/uploads/Kansas-Rumble-Strips-3-500x375.jpg[/img]
Wanna know the best feature about that? It works for ALL traffic. Not just volvos. Doesn't matter if you're in a Model T, hit that and you'll know you're straying off the lane.
They even put them in the center of the road too, as seen here:
[img]http://safety.transportation.org/htmlguides/horz_crvs/images/ex_V_5.jpg[/img]
A feature that alerts drivers that they're straying out of the lane shouldn't be limited to people who buy volvos. All motorists should have access to that, and that requires putting said features in the road itself. That's why rumble strips are so commonplace. Why should I be denied access to a life-saving feature because I can't afford a 40,000 dollar new car?
[quote]Even a slight amount of automatic torque to assist wouldn't be too bad.[[/quote] [i]This[/i] is why I don't like it. I do not want my car able to steer itself. I don't trust it. I don't trust the electronics to still work properly ten years from now. I don't trust the electronics to be able to tell the difference between some road grime and the white line marking the shoulder. I also don't trust the actuators themselves, how do I know they won't jam the steering entirely when they fail? There's precedent for this very issue, Chevy Cobalts had a HUGE recall issue a couple years ago because their electric power steering would fuck up and jam the wheel in place.
Want to have something that vibrates the wheel or something? Ok. I'm cool with that, won't cause the car to go out of control if it fails. Touch the steering system with any sort of actuator? Fuck right the hell off.
[quote]I'm not sure about the external airbag thing. Maybe you could run around kicking volvo's to test it. If it's detecting pedestrians it will have to be pretty sensitive, and I wouldn't exactly want an airbag covering my screen if I hit a pothole or something on a corner.[/QUOTE]
Oooh, I forgot about that. Yeah. I don't want people being able to do thousands of dollars of damage to my car by kicking it either.
[editline]6th March 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=scout2;35025455]And clearly so do they, right?[/QUOTE]
My hood hinges are worth more than some idiot that can't take five seconds out of their busy day to make sure it's safe to cross a street known to harbor 3,000 to 5,000 pound steel missiles that can turn them into a pile of ground chuck in a few milliseconds. It's common sense, something that's drilled into children literally as soon as they know English well enough to understand the message. Look both ways, look back towards oncoming traffic, THEN go when it is clear.
Too dumb to look before you cross the street, but old enough to know better? Too dumb to have my sympathy. I do my best to avoid hitting them but I feel no sympathy for them if they do get hit.
Speaking of children, they're too short for this to be of any use! They're going to take the grille to their center mass, which means the airbag deploying on the windshield will do nothing to protect them. So the group that would benefit the most from this airbag won't benefit from it at all, and honestly I'm not sure what can be done with regards to them. Vigilant driving and auto-braking systems I suppose, but those fail too.
[QUOTE=TestECull;35025614]I don't trust the electronics to be able to tell the difference between some road grime and the white line marking the shoulder.[/QUOTE]
I drive a Kia, it couldn't recognize shit from shinola.
[QUOTE=TestECull;35025614]
My hood hinges are worth more than some idiot that can't take five seconds out of their busy day to make sure it's safe to cross a street known to harbor 3,000 to 5,000 pound steel missiles that can turn them into a pile of ground chuck in a few milliseconds. It's common sense, something that's drilled into children literally as soon as they know English well enough to understand the message. Look both ways, look back towards oncoming traffic, THEN go when it is clear.
Too dumb to look before you cross the street, but old enough to know better? Too dumb to have my sympathy. I do my best to avoid hitting them but I feel no sympathy for them if they do get hit.
[/QUOTE]
Right, because you have never taken your eyes off the road. You've never taken a blind corner too fast. You've never been in a low visibility situation with no way to stop immediately. On the flip side, you've never been in a rush and blindly crossed a less traveled road. You've never missed something with a quick glance. You have never had even the briefest moment of human error and thus if you get hit by a car you DESERVE to die, fuck safety measures.
[QUOTE=scout2;35026365]Right, because you have never taken your eyes off the road. You've never taken a blind corner too fast.[/quote] And I'd deserve the consequences for my mistake.
[quote]You've never been in a low visibility situation with no way to stop immediately.[/quote] Slow down until you're within a speed where you won't hurt anyone if it goes tits up. Not difficult, and anyone who fails to do this deserves the consequences.
[quote] On the flip side, you've never been in a rush and blindly crossed a less traveled road. [/quote] I'd deserve to get blindsided by a Suburban in that case. It'd be my responsibility to look out for my own safety, and if I fuck up I deserve a hood ornament lodged in my kidney. It's not their responsibility to look out for my fat arse, that responsibility is mine alone.
[quote]You've never missed something with a quick glance.[/quote] That's why you don't do quick glances when you're looking for things that could kill you.
[quote] You have never had even the briefest moment of human error and thus if you get hit by a car you DESERVE to die, fuck safety measures.[/QUOTE]
...Pretty much, yeah. If I jump out in the middle of traffic without looking to make sure it's clear and get smashed I deserve every broken bone I get, and I don't expect anyone else's sympathy.
[QUOTE=TestECull;35025614]
My hood hinges are worth more than some idiot that can't take five seconds out of their busy day to make sure it's safe to cross a street known to harbor 3,000 to 5,000 pound steel missiles that can turn them into a pile of ground chuck in a few milliseconds. It's common sense, something that's drilled into children literally as soon as they know English well enough to understand the message. Look both ways, look back towards oncoming traffic, THEN go when it is clear.
Too dumb to look before you cross the street, but old enough to know better? Too dumb to have my sympathy. I do my best to avoid hitting them but I feel no sympathy for them if they do get hit.
Speaking of children, they're too short for this to be of any use! They're going to take the grille to their center mass, which means the airbag deploying on the windshield will do nothing to protect them. So the group that would benefit the most from this airbag won't benefit from it at all, and honestly I'm not sure what can be done with regards to them. Vigilant driving and auto-braking systems I suppose, but those fail too.[/QUOTE]
Who the cares how much your car is worth, the point is that it could potentially save a human life. And that's what matters.
It takes a whole different caliber of stupid to cross a road without looking and getting hit. If you do, it's your fault completely. I'm not sure an external airbag would even help in the small cases where a driver is the one at fault - airbags expand VERY quickly and are nearly solid for a split second, I'm not sure they'd add much to pedestrian safety.
[QUOTE=Swebonny;35026546]Who the cares how much your car is worth, the point is that it could potentially save a human life. And that's what matters.[/QUOTE]
I find it impossible to have empathy for and sympathize with stupid people doing stupid things.
[QUOTE=Protocol7;35026549]It takes a whole different caliber of stupid to cross a road without looking and getting hit. If you do, it's your fault completely. I'm not sure an external airbag would even help in the small cases where a driver is the one at fault - [B]airbags expand VERY quickly and are nearly solid for a split second, I'm not sure they'd add much to pedestrian safety.[/B][/QUOTE]
I'm sure the many engineers that's been working on the car have figured out a way to deal with it.
[QUOTE=Protocol7;35026549]I'm not sure an external airbag would even help in the small cases where a driver is the one at fault - airbags expand VERY quickly and are nearly solid for a split second, I'm not sure they'd add much to pedestrian safety.[/QUOTE]
I'm fairly certain it would, actually. Airbags are designed to have vent holes in them. They will release gases as necessary if/when an object hits them. Side impact airbags do wonders to reduce injuries sustained in T-bone crashes, so it makes sense that an airbag like this would reduce injuries stemming from a pedestrian bopping their bonce on the windshield.
The instances where the driver mows down an innocent pedestrian are so low that I don't really see a point in it though, and even then most of them are because the driver's already been hit by another car and is out of control. Car's more likely to hit the ped with a side not protected by the bag in that case.
[QUOTE=TestECull;35026474]And I'd deserve the consequences for my mistake.
Slow down until you're within a speed where you won't hurt anyone if it goes tits up. Not difficult, and anyone who fails to do this deserves the consequences.
I'd deserve to get blindsided by a Suburban in that case. It'd be my responsibility to look out for my own safety, and if I fuck up I deserve a hood ornament lodged in my kidney. It's not their responsibility to look out for my fat arse, that responsibility is mine alone.
That's why you don't do quick glances when you're looking for things that could kill you.
...Pretty much, yeah. If I jump out in the middle of traffic without looking to make sure it's clear and get smashed I deserve every broken bone I get, and I don't expect anyone else's sympathy.[/QUOTE]
You're a shitbag for being completely apathetic towards others' misfortunes, and the lack of mutual respect, egoism, is a quality that makes you a potentially dangerous driver. Having the attitude that your shitty car is worth more than someone else's life is just inhuman.
[QUOTE=Swebonny;35026634]I'm sure the many engineers that's been working on the car have figured out a way to deal with it.[/QUOTE]
Break the guy's neck instead of his legs? I guess though if they can detect an imminent pedestrian collision it could hit the brakes or something
[QUOTE=Protocol7;35026549]It takes a whole different caliber of stupid to cross a road without looking and getting hit. If you do, it's your fault completely. I'm not sure an external airbag would even help in the small cases where a driver is the one at fault - airbags expand VERY quickly and are nearly solid for a split second, I'm not sure they'd add much to pedestrian safety.[/QUOTE]It could be redesigned to meet this. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't overlook that. Altho I don't know what an outside airbag would do. It would just slam you out and you would get ran over.
[QUOTE=TestECull;35026652]I'm fairly certain it would, actually. Airbags are designed to have vent holes in them. They will release gases as necessary if/when an object hits them. Side impact airbags do wonders to reduce injuries sustained in T-bone crashes, so it makes sense that an airbag like this would reduce injuries stemming from a pedestrian bopping their bonce on the windshield.
The instances where the driver mows down an innocent pedestrian are so low that I don't really see a point in it though, and even then most of them are because the driver's already been hit by another car and is out of control. Car's more likely to hit the ped with a side not protected by the bag in that case.[/QUOTE]
I guess it makes sense, but if this was really the solution I'd think we'd have it in all cars by now. Airbags aren't exactly new tech.
wouldn't you like, hit the car, bag deploys, making more force hitting you or something?
then again, I imagine just a pillow popping up on the front BEFORE anything hits.
[QUOTE=Ond kaja;35026655]You're a shitbag for being completely apathetic towards others' misfortunes, and the lack of mutual respect, egoism, is a quality that makes you a potentially dangerous driver.[/quote] Despite the fact that I've avoided hundreds of morons that can't be bothered to take basic steps to avoid getting splattered, right? I mean, if this attitude predisposed me to being dangerous, then there's no way I could have avoided so many of them, right?
Fact of the matter is I'm quite a safe driver. I avoid collisions the average person would never see coming. I intentionally drive in a manner that avoids hitting things. Doesn't change the fact that I couldn't care less about people too lazy to take their own safety into consideration.
[quote]Having the attitude that your shitty car is worth more than someone else's life is just inhuman.[/QUOTE]
Then I'm inhuman. I don't really care what an anonymous poster on a gaming forum thinks about me.
[editline]6th March 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Protocol7;35026691]I guess it makes sense, but if this was really the solution I'd think we'd have it in all cars by now. Airbags aren't exactly new tech.[/QUOTE]
They are pretty old tech, but they're not being fully utilized. I'd love to see airbags put into the backs of seats to offer some semblance of protection to back seat passengers as well, obviously with a switch to disable them if a baby is back there.
[QUOTE=Protocol7;35026675]Break the guy's neck instead of his legs? I guess though if they can detect an imminent pedestrian collision it could hit the brakes or something[/QUOTE]
Breaking your legs, and then hitting on this:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/lr9sM.jpg[/img]
would be better than breaking your legs and hitting your head on the windshield or the frame.
Then I'm assuming such a system would only work at certain speeds, like perhaps 40-50 km/h which is common in the Swedish urban areas.
Is this the thing that allows them to break some EU law involving the design of the front of cars? I think I heard about them working on this or something similar a few years ago.
[QUOTE=TestECull;35026729]They are pretty old tech, but they're not being fully utilized. I'd love to see airbags put into the backs of seats to offer some semblance of protection to back seat passengers as well, obviously with a switch to disable them if a baby is back there.[/QUOTE]
Well there are cars with passenger airbag switches, so I don't see why we can't do the same for the rear passengers
[editline]6th March 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Swebonny;35026742]Breaking your legs, and then hitting on this:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/lr9sM.jpg[/img]
would be better than breaking your legs and hitting your head on the windshield or the frame.
Then I'm assuming such a system would only work at certain speeds, like perhaps 40-50 km/h which is common in the Swedish urban areas.[/QUOTE]
Ah, I was under the impression that it'd just pop an airbag in front of the car to soften impact. This makes a tad more sense
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