“Cars are driven by people. That's why everything we do at Volvo must contribute, first and foremost, to your safety.” It was with this phrase by Assar Gabrielsson & Gustav Larson, Founders of Volvo, that Lotta Jakobsson started the Press Conference “Volvo Safety – 90 Years thinking about people” which took place yesterday at the Volvo Car Portugal Training Center in Porto Salvo .
In a year in which the brand celebrates 90 Years, the Senior Technical Leader in Injury Prevention of the Volvo Cars Safety Centre, was in our country to give her testimony regarding the historic commitment that the Swedish brand has to the issue of safety.
Lotta Jakobsson spoke to us about Volvo's legacy in terms of safety, introduced us to the Volvo Cars Safety Center work methodology and introduced the “Circle of life” process. That has nothing to do with this life cycle:
Safety. a very serious matter
For Volvo, the subject of safety is not child's play − even though the children were highlighted during Lotta Jakobsson's presentation, due to the theme of car seats. But let's go back to the “Circle of Life” theme.
With nearly 3 decades of accumulated experience in research and development in car safety, Lotta Jakobbson explained in detail the meaning and various stages of the “Circle of Life” process (which has nothing to do with the Lion King Life Cycle) that Volvo Cars uses in the analysis and development of new solutions in this chapter.
organize chaos
Road accidents are one of the most chaotic scenarios that an automobile can be involved in. That's why Volvo has developed a methodology to safeguard passenger safety even in the most chaotic accidents.
With a statistical database of accidents collected by Volvo's Traffic Accident Research Team which includes more than 39 thousand vehicles and 65 thousand passengers, Circle of Life starts with the real data analysis phase. Volvo has, for over 40 years, teams of technicians who travel to accident sites to collect real data from them.
Some of these accidents (pictured) are even replicated at the Volvo Cars Safety Centre.
Then, the safety and product development requirements incorporate the data from this preliminary analysis with a view to their inclusion in the prototype production phase, followed by the constant verification and final production phases.
Towards 2020
Over the years, Volvo has been responsible for dozens of innovations that have changed the automotive world and people's lives, such as the 3-point seat belt, child safety seat, airbag, automatic braking system and , more recently the Pilot Assist system, the embryo of the steps towards autonomous driving.
For Lotta Jakobsson, the Swedish brand's commitment to safety is very much alive and the new models are an example: “The philosophy of our founders remains unchanged – the focus on people, on how to make their lives easier and safer. By 2020 we aim to achieve our Safety Vision – that no one loses their life or is seriously injured in a new Volvo”.
Aira de Mello, one of those responsible for Volvo Cars in Portugal, also recalled that achieving this goal does not only depend on technology, it also depends on a change in mentalities. And she gave an example: “There is still a lot of work to be done with regard to transporting the children. (…) It is important that, up to four years of age, the position of the chairs is inverted to avoid cervical injuries”.
