Volvo wants to connect cars with bicycles to prevent collisions and is partnering with protective sports gear maker POC and Ericsson to make it a reality.

LIKE CATS AND DOGS, cars and bicycles don’t really get along. But that might all be about to change thanks to Volvo and protective sports gear maker POC and Ericsson which will jointly present ‘technology’ that connects cyclists with drivers at the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January.

According to Volvo, the ‘technology’ is based around a connected car (meaning internet capable) and a new type of bicycle helmet that would allow two-way communication with proximity alerts between the bike and car. Clever.

“Using a popular smartphone app for bicyclists, like Strava, the cyclist’s position can be shared through the Volvo cloud to the car, and vice versa. If an imminent collision is calculated, both road users will be warned – and enabled to take the necessary action to avoid a potential accident. The Volvo driver will be alerted to a cyclist nearby through a head-up display alert – even if he happens to be in a blind spot, e.g. behind a bend or another vehicle or hardly visible during night time. The cyclist will be warned via a helmet-mounted alert light,” a statement from Volvo reads.

Klas Bendrik, vice-president and group CIO at Volvo Cars, said: “The partnership between Volvo Cars, POC and Ericsson is an important milestone in investigating the next steps towards Volvo Cars’ vision to build cars that will not crash [called Vision 2020]. But now, by exploring cloud-based safety systems, we are getting ever closer to eliminating the remaining blind spots between cars and cyclists and by that avoid collisions.”

Per Borgklint, senior vice-president and Head of Business Unit Support Solutions at Ericsson, said: “There is perhaps no greater promise that the Networked Society holds than its ability to create connections that save lives. Our latest work with Volvo Cars to explore protecting the millions of cyclists on the road is just the latest example of innovation that can change the world. We are proud to support this critical initiative in conjunction with POC and remain committed to the pursuit of connectivity-driven advancements that create limitless new possibilities.”

What do you think, do we need more warning systems, or do drivers and cyclists simply need to be more aware of their surroundings?