Road safety

Volvo is making a concerted play to reduce speeding deaths in Australia with the launch of its new Care Key, an inclusion on all models that will allow owners to electronically limit the top speed of their car. From model-year 2021, all Volvo cars will receive the Care Key as standard, giving Volvo owners the opportunity to pre-set their vehicles' maximum speed before handing the car over to younger family members or less-experienced drivers.

NSW posted its lowest road toll in 97 years – since 1923, when the population was less than one-third the size it is today. National road toll data for 2020 is due to be published mid-January. However, if the recent downward trend continues it could be the lowest national road toll since World War II. Reduced traffic caused by travel restrictions during the coronavirus crisis were major contributing factors to the reduction in the road toll.

Volvo is ensuring its cars are prepared for all crash conditions by dropping its vehicles 30 metres from a crane, in an effort to prepare them for extreme collisions. The scenario was used to simulate the results of extreme crashes – such as high-speed, single-vehicle collisions or truck and passenger vehicle collisions – in order to both improve in-car safety systems and help provide training for rescue crews.

Manufacturers may soon be required to include an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system as standard on all new cars sold in Australia, under a recent Federal Government proposal to reduce road trauma caused by light vehicles. In a Regulation Impact Statement issued in October 2020, the Government proposed introducing a new Australian Design Rule (ADR) mandating car-to-car and pedestrian-detecting AEB systems on all new-generation models from July 2022, and on all new cars from July 2024.

The clocks skipped an hour over the weekend in Victoria and NSW, as Australia’s two most populous states started daylight savings ahead of summer. Do interrupted sleeping patterns and longer daylight have an impact on road safety?