Volvo V40 gets external airbags to protect pedestrians

Whilst Volvo is known to herald new safety techniques each time a new car is launched, this time around, they have outdone themselves. Their 2013 V40 hatchback, apart from the plethora of safety features, now carries external air bags to protect the pedestrians.  These airbags are a world first and are located at the base of the windshield of the car and are activated in the event of collision with a pedestrian. The sensors in front bumper register the physical contact between the car and the pedestrian. The rear end of the bonnet is released and at the same time elevated by the deploying airbag. The inflated airbag covers the area under the raised bonnet plus approximately one third of the windscreen area and the lower part of the A-pillar. Further to this, Volvo has also tweaked their City Safety feature wherein it is now operational even at speeds of 50kmph, up from the earlier 33kmph limit.

European regulations require that a car’s hood should be designed such that it should cause minimal damage to the pedestrians in case of an accident. This required manufacturers to significantly alter the design of the hood often leading to ungainly results. Now, with this new technology from Volvo, it seems that those days will seem a distant past.