Monday, 09 March 2015

Volvo Car Lecture

On 2 September, fourteen London Region members met at MDS Accident Repair Centre Borehamwood to listen to Steve Plunkett – body and paint programme development manager of Volvo Car UK Ltd.

The presentation was a condensed version of the Volvo body technology update training course held at Volvo Daventry and focused on Volvo’s latest safety technology and their total loss avoidance programme.

Most people – lay and experts alike identify the Volvo brand as the safest or amongst the safest motor cars available. The making of this perception goes far into the brand’s history. Back in 1924 Assar Gabrielsson and Gustavlarson – founding fathers of Volvo had a philosophy: ‘Cars are driven by people. The guiding principle behind everything we make at Volvo, therefore is and must remain safety’.

With a little investigation into the manufacturer’s progression, one can see the extensive safety related innovations over the years such as the laminated windscreen introduced in 1944 and the standard fit three point safety belts in 1959 through to the contemporary active and passive electronic safety systems such as Cross Traffic Alert and Cyclist Detection with Auto Brake.

WHIPS – Volvo’s whiplash protection system, introduced in 1988 was covered – this very simple and inexpensive system actively reduces the risk of whiplash in a rear end collision of 7mph and above. The whips kits are located in the front seats and require replacing once activated. The simple and inexpensive task was explained with the aid of images.

The many safety systems were briefly covered such as:
Blind spot information system
Cross traffic alert
Coty safety
Lane departure warning and lane keeping aid
Driver alert control
Distance alert
Adaptive cruise control
Road sign information

Lastly the total loss avoidance programme was discussed as well as the need to correctly reinstate a Volvo using like for like parts and approved materials and methods. This is necessary to ensure correct operation of the active and passive safety systems should the vehicle be involved in a future road traffic accident.

Accompanying video footage throughout the presentation illustrated the various types of steel used in construction of the modern day Volvo such as aluminium, mild steel, HSS, UHSS etc as well as footage of staged impacts into fixed barriers.

The presentation was a good sample of the Volvo update training course and raised healthy interest in the same.

Darren Morgan