Volvo Will Put Cameras Inside its Cars to Monitor Driver Behavior

Many people are still getting used to the advanced features in today’s cars, from lane keeping assist and steering assist to that beep you hear every time you want to switch lanes and a car is in your blind spot. But this is only the beginning. In its quest to completely eliminate driver deaths, Volvo is taking more drastic steps to reduce accidents. Starting in the early 2020s, Volvo will put cameras inside its vehicles to monitor a driver for unsafe behaviors. If cameras and sensors detect the driver is intoxicated or distracted, it can take actions to keep drivers safe.

Volvo says there are many ways to detect an impaired driver. A car could detect a lack of steering input, extreme lane weaving, and slow reaction times, and take a look at the driver’s eye movement. In the case that a driver seems impaired, the car could react by reducing its speed or alerting the Volvo on Call support service. As a last resort, it could slow down and safely bring itself to a stop.

The automaker says it will announce specific details at a later date, such as the exact amount of cameras and their positioning in the cabin. The cameras will roll out to all Volvo models eventually. The process will start with Volvo’s next-generation SPA2 vehicle platform.

Just a few weeks ago, Volvo announced it will limit the top speed on all of its cars to 112 mph. This will begin next year on 2021 model-year vehicles. The automaker will also introduce what it calls a “Care Key” that allows Volvo buyers to set a speed limit on their car before handing it off to their teenagers.

The automaker previously announced its goal to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries in its new cars by 2020. Volvo says that it has realized technology alone will not achieve this goal, so it has broadened its scope to focus on driver behavior.

“We want to start a conversation about whether car makers have the right or maybe even an obligation to install technology in cars that changes their driver’s behaviour, to tackle things like speeding, intoxication or distraction,” Volvo Car Group president and chief executive Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement announcing the speed limit. “We don’t have a firm answer to this question, but believe we should take leadership in the discussion and be a pioneer.”

Considering that almost 30 percent of traffic deaths involved intoxicated drivers in 2017, Volvo is right to consider driver behavior a big part of the safety equation. And Volvo isn’t the only automaker to do so. Some cars today have attention assist features that monitor your steering patterns to detect drowsiness. And gaze recognition technology is nothing new. To help drivers issue vehicle commands, BMW is introducing it on the iNext with a camera integrated into the instrument cluster. But should driver monitoring involve something as potentially invasive as cameras inside the vehicle that can tattle on you? And how would Volvo protect your privacy? Do consumers want this technology? Those are the lingering questions.

Source: Volvo

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