In-car surveillance: Volvo will be watching you

Cameras in your car? How very 1984

Volvo’s focus on safety has gone up two gears with the news that it’s going to spy on drivers by putting cameras in its new cars and fitting harsher speed limiters.

The moves are part of a wider push to achieve its aim of ending fatalities involving its cars. Volvo has noted three main areas of human behaviour that could stand in the way of achieving this goal: speeding, intoxication and distraction.

The first will be dealt with by the introduction of mandatory speed limiters, set to 112mph. Volvo’s announcement came just before the European Parliament revealed plans to force car manufacturers to include intelligent speed limiters as standard safety equipment. They use GPS and tra c sign recognition to set the legal maximum automatically via cruise control and can be overridden. It’s the same technology that’s already available on cars including the Mercedes S-Class and Ford Focus. Britain’s Department for Transport has said it will fall into line with Europe.

In the US, around 30 per cent of all tra c fatalities involve intoxicated drivers. Volvo hopes a mix of camera-based snooping and driving-style monitoring will reduce that.

‘Some people still believe that they can drive after having had a drink, and that this will not a ect their capabilities,’ says Volvo driver behaviour expert Professor Trent Victor. ‘We want to ensure that people are not put in danger as a result of intoxication.’

Volvo plans to introduce a ‘Care Key’ from 2021 on all models, allowing owners to set speed limits when letting someone else – like a recently qualified driver – use their car. Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson says: ‘We want to start a conversation about whether car makers have the right or maybe even an obligation to install technology in cars that changes their driver’s behaviour, to tackle things such as speeding, intoxication or distraction.’