Volvo

Trucks

Safety Report 2017
Safety

The Safety Report 2017. The more we know, the safer you are.

2018-09-19
Smartphones steal our attention. 17% of all pedestrians use their smartphones while crossing roads and fail to pay attention to the traffic situation. This is just one example where many different types of road users come together and where we as individuals must take precautions to increase safety.
Driving progress in safety

There is only one acceptable number of accidents in traffic. Zero. 

Every year about 1,2 million people are killed in road traffic accidents worldwide. If we want to change this figure, we need to understand why traffic accidents occur. Volvo Trucks Accident Research Team (ART) has studied and analysed more than 1700 accidents involving trucks since 1969. 

As traffic accidents are a global concern we want to share our findings with society. We are aware that we are a part of the problem, but we want to be a part of the solution. So, we publish our findings – the latest of which can be found in the Volvo Trucks Safety Report 2017.
 

Ongoing work

Questions around safety change every year and with every new generation of Volvo Truck comes a big step forward in safety development. 

The arrival of the smartphone is just one emerging safety issue in the modern era of accident prevention. But it is a trend, among many others, that has come to the attention of the Volvo Trucks Accident Research Team (ART) and it needs to be taken seriously. 

The Volvo Trucks Accident Research Team is always looking to understand and analyse accident trends to improve safety. They establish why the accident happened, they work out if it could have been avoided and they use the information to help improve truck safety.

However, the data collected from accident sites is not only used to make our trucks safer. We also share it, so it contributes to national and international research on traffic safety. 

It’s not just about analysing accidents involving a Volvo Truck, it’s also about having a deep understanding of European accident statistics in order to develop safer traffic solutions.

In 2015, there were 26,300 road fatalities in the EU which represented an increase of 1% over 2014 and 2% compared to 2013.

So even though the statistics over time show that traffic fatalities are decreasing in EU countries, this slight increase and slow overall annual reduction shows that further efforts are needed. And not just in terms of passive and active safety devices in vehicles, but also safety awareness among other road users, for example vulnerable road users.
 

Prioritised areas to increase safety

Here are some of the areas that are prioritised areas for improved traffic safety according to the findings in the report: 

  • Increase seat belt usage.

  • Secure driver awareness as well as direct and indirect visibility from the cab.

  • Enable driver coaching services that provide direct feedback to the driver.

  • Further development of active safety systems.

– The currently legislated Advanced Emergency Braking System is designed to mitigate or avoid rear-end accidents. In the future it would be beneficial to include scenarios involving vulnerable road users, for example crossing accidents.

– Detection systems that identify vulnerable road users in close proximity to the truck.

– Cooperative Intelligent Traffic Systems. 
 

Read more in the safety report here

You’ll find more information on Accident Statistics, The Causes of Accidents, Accidents Involving Heavy Goods Vehicles, and more information on Vulnerable Road Users and Heavy Goods Vehicles.

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