Drunk and distracted driving? Volvo will take care of that

Drunk driving can be fatal. This is why Volvo will use its cameras installed in the vehicles to monitor the driver’s behavior. If he’s found to be drunk or distracted, the car will intervene. Expected to come out in all Volvo cars by 2020, the in-car cameras will monitor the eye movement of the driver to check if he’s distracted with his smartphone or even intoxicated.

If the driver is found to be so, a Volvo representative from on-call assistance centers will call the driver to check on him. If you take off your hands from the steering wheel or even close your eyes, you’ll get a call as well. And suppose you still don’t respond, the car’s speed will automatically slow down and even come to a stop.

Henrik Green, the senior VP for research and development at Volvo Car Group, said in a statement: “When it comes to safety, our aim is to avoid accidents altogether rather than limit the impact when an accident is imminent and unavoidable. In this case, cameras will monitor for behavior that may lead to serious injury or death.”

Slow down

We know that Volvo has a reputation for safety. The new in-car camera IT service comes in just after the carmaker announced its plan to limit top speed on all of its vehicles to 180 km/h (112 mph). Volvo’s Vision 2020 goal to have no fatalities in its car by 2020 is a high dream and the company is using every tech to achieve it.

Of course, there are issues of privacy popping up as well. But Volvo has an answer for that. “The cameras will not record video and no data will be gathered without the user’s consent. Exact technical setup is yet to be determined,” said a Volvo spokesperson.