What the Car Industry Can Do, Volvo Cars

Abstract

AbstractMotor vehicle manufacturers have a central and a very important role in reaching the target of zero fatalities and serious injuries in road traffic. Although the continuous development of safer products has made a significant contribution in reducing the number of casualties, the responsibility still remains profoundly with motor vehicle manufacturers in continuing the process of protecting car occupants and not harming other road users. However, the possible contributions do not end here. Sharing research data based on real-life traffic crashes and incident experiences, cooperating with other traffic safety stakeholders, and sharing real-time data on traffic information with authorities and other road users also have a role to play in reducing the number of road casualties. In addition to this, motor vehicle manufacturers will be able to contribute by assuming the corporate social responsibility in using safe transportation linked to producing vehicles, parts, and services and sharing the latest level of technology advancement with customers in countries without government mandates on safety.It is important to stress that all these efforts need to have a global perspective. For the vehicle manufacturers, this implies that all the technical developments in motor vehicle safety, collaborating with governments and sharing knowledge on safety, must be performed and available also in parts of the world with a vehicle fleet of traditionally lower advancement levels.In line with the efforts of reaching zero fatalities, Volvo Cars has defined its own Safety Vision. This states that no one is to be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo vehicle.The aim here is to share the view of Volvo Cars on the possible contributions and actions of motor vehicle manufacturers in the collaborative efforts of reaching towards zero fatalities and serious injuries within the road transportation sector.