Volvo will introduce cameras in its new cars to watch out for drink driving in a bid to reduce the number of deaths on the road.
The cameras will be one of multiple sensors that will measure if a driver is showing signs of intoxication, Volvo said on Wednesday.
The feature will be introduced from early next year, though the Swedish carmaker, which is owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely, has not yet announced how many cameras will be present, nor their location.New Volvo cars will limit their speed or park automatically if drivers’ eyes are closed or stray from the road for long periods of time.
Other sensors will measure if a driver does not steer for an extended period, weaves across lanes or reacts slowly to other traffic. If a driver does not respond to warnings, Volvo’s on call support service will speak directly to the driver.
A Volvo spokesman declined to comment on whether police would be informed of lawbreaking. Volvo said it wants to “start a conversation about whether car makers have the right or maybe even the obligation to install technology in cars that changes their drivers’ behaviour”.
The driver monitoring will add to Volvo’s reputation for road safety , which invented the three-point seatbelt in 1959. Earlier this month the company said it will impose speed limits of 112mph on all cars from 2020 onwards.
Volvo also added another speed-limiting feature which will give owners the ability to set a top speed when lending their car to another driver.
The company, which sold more than 50,000 cars in the UK last year, aims to completely eradicate fatalities in its new vehicles by next year. Drink driving contributed to between 240 and 330 deaths on Britain’s roads in 2017, 16% of all fatalities, Department for Transport figures show.
“When it comes to safety, our aim is to avoid accidents altogether rather than limit the impact when an accident is imminent and unavoidable,” says Henrik Green, Volvo’s senior vice president for research and development. “In this case, cameras will monitor for behaviour that may lead to serious injury or death.”
The features will come as Volvo and other carmakers accelerate their development of autonomous driving technology which promises to eradicate the problem of drink driving as well as reduce the number of car accidents.
Volvo aims to have cars capable of full autonomous driving on the roadsby the early 2020s. It currently offers pilot assist autonomy, which aids drivers in accelerating, braking, and keeping to the correct lane.
When democracy and data privacy…
… come under threat, we must keep challenging those who undermine it. It’s been a year since The Observer and The Guardian broke the story that became the Cambridge Analytica scandal, exposing the truth and shedding light on the reality of foul play within the tech industry. We saw how personal data could be harvested on an unprecedented scale to fulfil the ambitions of the powerful. Through this courageous investigative reporting, we shamed Facebook, and prompted a global conversation about the importance of data privacy, holding tech companies to account and pressuring governments to enact regulation.
The Guardian is committed to continuing this vital work; we will keep persevering, uncovering and challenging those with so much power in the tech industry. This has never been so pressing: we’re living in a time when the integrity of our democracy and the legitimacy of our votes are in question. Political campaigns reside in our many digital feeds and, with each year, this will become ever more prominent. The world needs journalism that promotes transparency and investigates where others won’t go. Reader support means The Guardian can keep investigating the critical issues of our time.
The Guardian is editorially independent, meaning we set our own agenda. Our journalism is free from commercial bias and not influenced by billionaire owners, politicians or shareholders. No one edits our editor. No one steers our opinion. This is important as it enables us to give a voice to those less heard, challenge the powerful and hold them to account. It’s what makes us different to so many others in the media, at a time when factual, honest reporting is critical.
Every contribution we receive from readers like you, big or small, goes directly into funding our journalism. This support enables us to keep working as we do – but we must maintain and build on it for every year to come.
