The way people drive in other countries is different, because they are on the lookout for pedestrians and small animals, but in Australia, it’s all about the Kangaroos.
It is a fact that they are large animals and you can probably spot them with your naked eye. But, due to their strong body and leaping speed, they have become the most important causes of accidents in the country. Drivers can’t just hit a kangaroo and drive on, because there are laws in place to protect them. Besides, their sturdy skeleton is sure to damage the car leading to a severe collision when it is being driven at top speed.
In order to avoid this and make life easy for Australian drivers, Volvo is working on an innovative Kangaroo detection system. The technology has been integrated to their XC90 models and are being tested in the country at the moment. With the help of the integrated camera found in the car and the radar system, the vehicle is capable of automatically detecting the presence of the animal a mile away.
While it might sound extremely simple, the people working at Volvo confirmed that it is more complex than you think. They have already used a similar technology to find the movement of animals like skunks, raccoons, and even large ones like cows. But, kangaroos are extremely erratic in their behavior and tend to move to the middle of the road out of the blue unlike other animals whose movements are more predictable.
“We will spend time to analyze and calibrate our technology to sync it with the kangaroos in Australia. Only when are confident that we can help avoid accidents, we will launch it in the new range of Volvo vehicles”, confirmed the company’s safety engineer Martin Magnusson.
The experimental system is being used in the forest reserves at Canberra which is populated by a lot of kangaroos. It is one of the favorite tourist spots where people go to catch a glimpse of the animal in its own habitat. Once the technology reaches a point, Volvo will incorporate it in all their vehicles around the globe. They have plans to sell it to other car manufacturers as well, because a calibrated safety system is more viable for car brands than developing one on their own. The brand wants to contribute their fair share to save wildlife worldwide by using such technologies as they believe animals require protection as much as humans do.
