POC Partners with Volvo to Develop New Safety Systems
Engineers and product designers from POC and Volvo will work together and are planning to apply their collective findings to upcoming POC helmets and glasses and Volvo cars and trucks.
"With POC's mission of doing the best we can to possibly save lives and reduce the consequences of accidents for cyclists, it's a treasure to interact on cycling safety together with Volvo Cars," POC founder and CEO Stefan Ytterborn told RoadCycling.com. "Volvo have the vision, competence and experience and have been leading the development within road safety for more than eighty years."
According to a POC spokesman the collaboration will work to improve the interactions between cyclists and motorists. POC's upcoming AVIP road cycling product line is designed to increase the visibility of cyclists and improve the communication between motorists and cyclists. Volvo is working to create technology that will notify both the cyclist and the driver of each other's presence. The first results of their work is scheduled for presentation during the second half of 2014.
"Communication with cyclists around the car is a possible extension of our ground-breaking Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection technology," explained Jan Ivarsson, Senior Manager of Safety Strategy and Requirements at Volvo Car Group. "Providing the cyclist with a confirmation that he or she is seen by the vehicle can make interaction between cars and cyclists smoother and safer in urban areas."
Thomas Ingenlath, Senior Vice President Design of Volvo Car Group, is expecting the partnership between Volvo and POC to be both inspiring and fruitful. "Both of our companies have a strong emphasis on safety and protection. POC can inspire us to make safety an emotional experience and to create even more desirable cars. Their products blend functional design with lightweight, high performance materials. This is perfectly in tune with our aim to make functionality and safety an emotional experience."
Roadcycling.com has no knowledge of competing car manufacturers such as Mercedes Benz, Peugeot, BMW, Ford, Audi, Chrysler and Toyota being in the process of developing similar cyclist safety systems for their cars and trucks in cooperation with bicycle helmet manufacturers.
