Volvo Trucks is introducing a cloud-based service, ‘Connected Safety’, which allows Volvo trucks and Volvo cars to automatically alert each other to hazardous traffic situations.
Connected Safety was developed to send out alerts to nearby vehicles connected to the service whenever a driver activates the vehicle’s hazard warning lights.The passenger-car version of Connected Safety was launched by Volvo Cars in 2016. Volvo Trucks now rolling out its version of the service.Â
When the hazard warning lights are switched on, the truck sends a signal via the driver’s Internet-connected mobile phone to Volvo Trucks’ cloud service. From there the information is forwarded to the corresponding service at Volvo Cars. An alert is then transmitted to all connected cars and trucks approaching the location of the vehicle whose hazard lights have been activated.
The system will be available in Sweden and Norway during 2018. Connected Safety is applicable to the Volvo FH16, Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX equipped with Volvo Trucks’ integrated system for services and infotainment, depending on the truck’s specification and choice of services.
Carl Johan Almqvist, traffic and product safety director, Volvo Trucks, said: “Expanded cooperation between different players is one of the most important keys to improved road safety. If more vehicles are able to exchange real-time information about the traffic situation, it will lower the risk of accidents. With Connected Safety we are opening the door to the future, with the hope that more vehicle manufacturers will join in.”
