Volvo Buses
South Africa
Volvo Buses
South Africa
Safety has been our guiding star since 1927 when Volvo first was founded. Today, more than 90 years later, we’re still leading the way with a range of pioneering safety innovations that are making their way throughout the vehicle industry. And our vision is clear: zero accidents with Volvo Group products.
For us, safety is so much more than just developing innovative safety solutions in our products. We also have a responsibility in society and an important role to play when it comes to making road traffic safer. And we know we can make a difference. Volvo Group is one of the world’s largest companies in terms of safety research for commercial vehicles. Further, we push the limits for safety standards, by setting up even higher safety requirements than what the market demands.
Volvo offers an array of intelligent features that help the driver to drive more safely and avoid incidents and protecting from injuries and damage. Smart sensors and advanced software detect events that could lead to dangerous situations, and warn the driver.
Safety is a cornerstone already in the initial phases of our product development. Drivability, road handling and predictable behaviour build the foundation for Volvo’s holistic safety architecture, aiming at our vision of zero accidents.
With Volvo’s active safety sytems, all information to the driver is integrated in the instrument cluster, right in front of the driver. The absence of multiple external display units reduces distractions and helps the driver to stay focused.
Safety starts with the driver. At Volvo we focus on features, systems and services to make driving safer. In addition to on-board safety features, we also offer services like Zone Management, which is an advanced geofencing application, and Volvo I-Coaching, providing real time feedback to the driver on his or her performance.
Safety is a cornerstone in our legacy and in our strategy for the future, taking us steadily closer to our zero accident vision.
In city traffic, the dangers are mainly related to the heavy traffic. Several road user categories share the same road space – pedestrians, cyclists, e-scooters, cars, trucks and buses. Especially at bus stops and terminals, the bus driver faces highly complex situations. This is why Volvo continuously develops features and services for driver assistance and the protection of other road users.
We are well aware of the fact that our buses cannot prevent all accidents by themselves, regardless of how safe they may be. Accidents can happen nevertheless, due to human error and the environment in which our buses are used. In the event of an accident our task is to minimise the consequences for drivers, passengers and other road users. Here are three protections systems that significantly reduce the risk of serious injuries in collisions with passenger cars.
Electrified public transport also means new requirements in maintenance and service. The presence of high-voltage components calls for new routines and precautions. Every Volvo electric bus is designed for safe service and maintenance work. Our electric drivelines are equipped with active systems to protect from hazardous exposure to high-voltage components. All parts are clearly marked, working procedures are fully documented, and we provide specialized training and information for workshop technicians.
Volvo Group conducts extensive research on digital protective features for vehicles. We design our services to only collect the data we need for each particular case, and to do this in a way that minimizes exposure and risks. Data is compiled into usable information off-board – outside the vehicle – by specialized algorithms.
The data flow in a Volvo bus is protected on multiple levels in the architecture. Even with a direct physical access to the vehicle it is extremely difficult for a third party to gain control over the vehicle systems that contain data.
A majority of cyber security incidents involve human factors. For this reason, Volvo frequently gives courses on security awareness for employees, in addition to protective technical solutions.
