At Volvo, we believe the best way to understand the anatomy of a collision is to be on the scene when they happen. The Volvo Accident Research Team has made it a point to be one of the first on the scene when there’s a serious accident within a 100-kilometre radius of Gothenburg, Sweden (where Volvo headquarters is located). “One of us will be on standby 24 hours a day. Whenever the nature of the accident warrants investigation, we’ll be there as soon as we can,” says John-Fredrik Gronvall, Senior Research Engineer and head of the Traffic Accident Research Team.
The team documents significant aspects of auto accidents, taking photos and measurements and interviewing people on the scene. Some of the cars are even taken to a workshop at the Volvo Cars Safety Centre for further study. Gathering this data in the field is key to safety work at Volvo. As a result, Volvo has a statistical database that contains information on over 36,000 accidents involving more than 60,000 people.
Established in 1972, this team was the first of its kind in the industry. Since that time, the data gathered has proved invaluable in helping to develop the active safety systems of the future. Thanks to this knowledge, Volvo had developed everything from collapsible steering columns and airbags in the ‘70s, to the more recent Side Impact Protection System, Whiplash Protection and Child Safety Systems. The information also suggests ways to improve a driver’s ability to avoid collisions in unexpected situations.
In 2003, accident research went international, when the first Traffic Accident Research Center (TARC) was set up in cooperation with the authorities in Thailand. A similar partnership was set up in China over a year ago. Thought being, more data being gathered in more places can only help the Volvo cause of bringing safety to all.
