Awes-truck!

Volvo showcases some hi-tech, but elegantly simple safety measures for trucks

I would be lying if I told you that it was I taking that fully laden truck through that curve, lifting off most of the rear axles to give the photographer a dramatic enough shot.

But would you believe me if I told you it was actually a blonde Swedish girl doing that stunt? You'd better, as this lady works with Volvo and she was demonstrating exactly what happens when a loaded truck goes round a corner at a decent speed.

And how do you prevent something like this from happening, something which could lead to the truck toppling over? The answer is ESP "� no, not a driver's sixth sense, which may or may not work, but Electronic Stability Programme.

Waitwaitwait. Swedish girls? Sixth sense? Volvo trucks? What am I going on about? I'll tell you.

I was in Gothenburg last week, attending a programme organised by Volvo which showcased the kind of R&D the truck major is carrying out in the field of safety.

I was among a host of journalists from various countries across the world in which Volvo operates, and the Safety Seminar, as it was called, demonstrated some almost-ready-for-incorporation technologies in commercial vehicles.

Sadly, it did not involve driving some of those gorgeous trucks "� well, if it was me driving one of those powerful behemoths on fast Swedish roads, Volvo's entire safety attempt would have been undone, I guess.

Everybody knows about the strong association between Volvo and safety, but this is the first time I came to see it in real life. Their safety premise is pretty simple: that the truck must adapt to the driver's abilities and limitations, and not the other way around. Makes sense.

Volvo founded their Accident Research Team way back in 1969 (not all that way back, okay, since I was born that year), and since then, they have put together over 1,500 examples of truck accidents and have analysed each and every part of the accident.

Based on their research, they have introduced various active and passive safety features in their trucks, even before legislation made such features mandatory. Examples?

Energy absorbent dashboard and steering wheel, three-point inertia-reel seatbelts with electronic locking, SRS airbag, and the Front Underrun Protection System which prevents cars from getting trapped underneath the truck in frontal collisions. And much more.

However, what's more exciting, (well, safety is not exactly exciting, but you know what I mean) is the clutch of new features that will make driving trucks safer. I was exposed to the demos of these new technologies and they are frankly, quite interesting. Some of them may not be applicable for our country yet, while some need to be brought in ASAP. Here they are then:

Vehicle dynamics
Let's start with the blonde one first. One of the main reasons for accidents is a truck driving off the road or rolling over. This happens simply when the truck loses its grip on the road.

The ESP system is intelligent enough to gather what's happening and take action accordingly. It's so smart that it understands what the driver is trying to do and what the rest of the vehicle is actually doing and takes corrective action.

For instance, it can brake one or more wheels, reduce engine torque to the driven wheels and can even retard engine power so the vehicle slows down. And in emergencies, all of the above!

Driver awareness
This one is really cool. And it happens to many of us. Typically, if you're feeling drowsy, you stop blinking normally and tend to blink slowly. Also, steering wheel movement becomes jerky and you tend to switch lanes.

A camera focused on the driver's eye registers this drowsiness, while another one, which looks out for road lane markings, also sends a signal. Thirdly, a sensor in the steering wheel indicates that the movements are not consistent or if the vehicle deviates from the lane.

The system puts all these symptoms together and gives the driver a warning "� it could be a beep or a vibration through the seat. Also, if the driver's distracted, let's say, he's talking on the cellphone, his eye movements are not consistent with that of an alert driver's.

The system snaps him back to attention by a strobe-like effect emitted by LEDs that lead his eyes back to the road. BEEP! Read on!

Radar ready
Adaptive Cruise Control is a production reality today. But Volvo has gone one step further with ACC for their trucks. Here, the radar unit mounted in front of the truck monitors the distance and speed of the vehicle in front. And in case of emergencies, adds extra braking power to bring the truck to a full halt.

Another development of ACC is Queue Assistance "� you guessed it "� a boon in stop-and-go traffic, where the truck's speed is automatically matched to suit the speed of the vehicle in front. I'll take one of those, thank you.

Blind spotting
A truck, as you know, is quite big. And some Volvos are really, really big. Which means there are blind spots all around for the driver.

Strategically placed cameras and radar give feedback to the driver through monitors that there's a car approaching from the wrong side or that there's a pedestrian about to cross in front of the truck. The driver can take corrective action accordingly.

Information overload
Yes, information is everything. And how it comes through is also important. Which is why the ergonomics specialists at Volvo have ensured that feedback from various sources do not confuse the hell out of the driver who's already tense enough driving the truck in traffic.

This is where Human-Machine Interface comes in. Volvo's team of psychologists, behavioural scientists and technicians are already at work making it easy for the driver to receive information from diverse sources.

Yes, making trucks safer is one thing, but there has to be an overall change in the way drivers drive, pedestrians walk, bikers ride and roads, um, lead.

Such a change has occurred in Europe. Here, road transport volume has doubled over the last 30 years, but fatalities in road accidents have been halved. But in Asia, Africa and South America, it remains pretty bad. We should know.

Interestingly, Volvo carried out a programme in a country similar to ours "� Brazil. In the late 1980s, the safety scene was lousy in that country.

In 1987, Volvo initiated their Road Safety Programme that ran "� unlike our own Road Safety Weeks (weeks!) "� for 10 years. It started with a 'wear seatbelts' campaign and led on to other safety aspects, including cooperation between various public agencies and companies, lectures, seminars, information campaigns and what have you.

Since then, there has been a reduction in accidents and fatalities. But the programme goes on. Volvo have initiated another Road Safety Decade "� my term, not theirs "� in 2000.

Maybe they could do the same in our country as well, because we desperately need it. While advanced safety technology may take time to be introduced in India, we still need to make a start somewhere.

Meanwhile, I am going for another ride in that truck with that blonde stuntwoman. And I am going to play it safe "� I'll be belted up. What did you think?