Volvo launches pedestrian airbag
New safety system from the people who invented safety belts
ALTHOUGH most of us were drilled since childhood to look left and right before crossing a road, inattentive pedestrians still regularly come into contact with cars, with predictably unfortunate results.
It’s a major problem around the world. In China 25 percent of traffic fatalities involve pedestrians, in Europe the figure is 14 percent, in the USA 12 percent, while in South Africa it’s an outrageously high 40 percent. As a result automakers are designing vehicles that strive to lessen the blow, such as Volvo’s new V40 which is the first car to feature a pedestrian airbag.
It helps protect pedestrians from serious head injuries caused by the hard structure under the bonnet panel, the windscreen’s lower edge and the A-pillars, says Thomas Broberg, Volvo’s Senior Technical Advisor Safety.
The bonnet hinges are each equipped with pyrotechnical release mechanisms which, when the system is activated, pull out a pin and release the rear of the bonnet panel. At the same time, the airbag is activated and starts filling with gas. During the inflation sequence the airbag raises the bonnet. It is lifted ten centimetres and stays in the raised position.
The added gap between the bonnet and the hard components in the engine compartment gives space for the bonnet to deform, creating a dampening effect when it is hit.
“The airbag has two functions. Firstly, it raises the bonnet to create distance, and secondly it cushions the impact around the hard parts of the area near the windscreen,” explains Broberg.
In its inflated position, the airbag covers the entire windscreen wiper recess, which is about onethird at the bottom of the wind- screen and the lower part of the Apillars, so the driver’s visibility will not be affected.
The entire sequence from activation of the system to full inflation takes a few hundredths of a second.
The system is active at speeds between 20 and 50 km/h (75 percent of all accidents involving pedestrians are said to take place at up to 40 km/h).
The system was a world breakthrough when the all-new Volvo V40 hatchback, which arrives in SA early in 2013, was launched at the Geneva motor show earlier this year.
“We developed the technology using computer simulations and human-like leg and head forms. The tests were carried out in a wide variety of configurations,” relates Broberg.
This is not Volvo’s only “ammunition” against pedestrian accidents: Two years ago, in 2010, Volvo Car Corporation launched Pedestrian Detection with full auto brake. The system can avoid a collision with a pedestrian at speeds of up to 35km/h if the driver does not respond in time. At higher speeds the focus is on reducing the car’s speed as much as possible before the collision.
All of these systems are further steps towards Volvo Car Corporation’s Vision 2020 – which is the company’s goal of no longer having serious injuries or fatalities in a new Volvo product by year 2020.