All new Volvo cars of model year -21 now come with a top speed limited to 180 km / h. Volvo Cars fulfills its promise to impose such a restriction and goes a step further than regulations and legislation require to help reduce the remaining gap to zero serious personal injury and fatalities in traffic.
In addition to the speed limit, all Volvo cars will now also come with a Care Key that allows Volvo drivers to set additional restrictions on the car’s top speed, for example before the car is lent to other family members or to younger and inexperienced drivers.
Together, the top speed limit of 180 km / h and Care Key sends a strong signal about the dangers of speeding, which underlines Volvo Cars’ position as a world leader in safety. Both features illustrate how car manufacturers can actively take responsibility for trying to reach zero fatalities in traffic by supporting better driver behavior.
“We believe that car manufacturers have a responsibility to help increase road safety,” says Malin Ekholm, director of the Volvo Cars Safety Center.
“Our speed-limiting technology, and the dialogue it has initiated, fits into that way of thinking. The top speed limit and Care Key help people reflect on and understand that speeding is dangerous, while providing extra security and supporting better driver behavior.”
The top speed limit has proved controversial since it was announced, where some observers are questioning the right of car manufacturers to impose such restrictions through available technology. However, Volvo Cars considers it an obligation to continue its tradition of being a pioneer in the discussion of car manufacturers’ rights and obligations to take measures that could ultimately save lives. Although it would pose a risk of losing potential customers.
The problem with speeding is that the car’s built-in safety technology and smartly designed infrastructure when driving over certain speeds are no longer sufficient to avoid serious injuries and deaths should the accident occur. Most countries in the Western world have speed restrictions, but speeding is still common and one of the most common causes of death in traffic. Millions of people still receive speeding fines every year.
Research shows that people in general have a poor understanding of the dangers of speeding. Consequently, many people drive too fast and do not adapt the speed sufficiently to the traffic situation.
In addition to speeding, intoxication and distraction are two other primary areas of interest for road safety, which represent the remaining gap between Volvo Cars’ vision of a future with zero casualties and seriously injured in traffic. Volvo Cars is taking steps to address all three aspects of human behavior in its safety work, and where more features will be introduced in the cars going forward.
