01 August 2011
Hitting an animal on the road can be fatal for all parties involved. It doesn’t make it any better that most road authorities say that if you cannot stop safely when you spot an animal, it is safer to hit it than swerving to try avoid it. Sure doesn’t leave one with a warm, fuzzy (or furry) feeling.
This however may all become a thing-of-the past with Volvo developing technology to keep those car occupants and wildlife safe.
Enter the animal detection and avoidance system that uses the same radar and camera technology as Volvo’s ‘Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake’ application. Available on models including the S60, V60, V70, S80 and XC70, it will have full functionality in conditions where most collisions occur: think dawn, dusk and the winter months.
When an animal is detected on the road ahead, a warning sounds and if the driver fails to act, the system applies the car’s brakes to either bring the vehicle to a stop or significantly slows the car down.
What’s more is that Volvo’s engineers plan to teach the system to identify different animals. Artificial Intelligence for cars, you could say. If only Skippy were around to see it…