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Volvo V40 has airbag for pedestrians as well

Volvo V40 that had a world debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March will be more than a car as it will also take care of the pedestrians apart from the safety and comfort of the occupants. Innovating car related safety; Volvo has introduced world’s first pedestrian airbag for the safety of those pedestrians hit by this Volvo car. Notably, the Volvo V40 is not part of the fleet of Volvo cars in India that includes Volvo S60, Volvo S80, Volvo XC60 and Volvo XC90 and is not expected to be launched in the country in the near future. In fact, the airbags for pedestrians will be a high level of luxury as India is still not accustomed to the airbag even for the driver and most of its entry level cars such as Maruti Alto, Chevrolet Spark, Tata Nano and others have no airbags.

The hatchback by nature, the V40 is the first car ever to think about airbag for the pedestrian. Other car makers though have introduced cushions inside the bumper or an initial crumple zone for pedestrian leg safety but putting in an airbag is the most innovative way to ensure pedestrian safety. As per Volvo, it has set a target that no pedestrian will be injured or killed by new Volvo car by 2020.

In order to make the four door car more safe for the occupants as well as the pedestrians, Volvo has put in a pedestrian detection system that detects slow moving objects in its way. All system detects moving objects that are moving at a speed of less than 35 mph and triggers a warning mechanism as well as alerts the driver. If in any case the pedestrian hits the car front, the U shaped air bags opens from under the hood and covers almost the entire windscreen so that the pedestrian is saved of the head injury. As per an estimate over 12 percent of the people who die in road accidents are pedestrians. And the number could be more or less similar in Europe as well. However, initial reports suggest that V40 won’t be launched in US and India launch is a far far possibility.