Oct 30, 2024

Making Safer Drivers

Chris Stokel-Walker

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Volvo Cars Driver Understanding System

In 2022, more than 16,000 people across the U.S. were killed in car crashes involving distracted or impaired drivers, according to the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration. Volvo has worked to keep car exteriors safe, says Mikael Ljung Aust, senior technical safety leader at Volvo Cars’ Safety Center, but it “became clear that assessing the driver’s state inside the vehicle was just as critical.” Thus the automaker’s new system for its EX90 model: Two camera-based sensors monitor the driver’s gaze, while a capacitive steering wheel checks that hands are on the wheel. “If impairment is detected, the car will adjust its responses,” Aust says, meaning it will alert the driver to take action or, failing that, autonomously stop the car and activate its hazard lights.

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