SHOCKING TRUCKS CRASH TEST & SAFETY DEMONSTRATIONS

Safety is something we've had with us since day one. It's part of our heritage and today it's one of our most important core values. The new FH series is really truly state-of-the-art when it comes to safety because we've put all our knowledge into this new product. Functional design is key when it comes to safety. And one of the main improvements in the new Volvo FH series is that the cab is one cubic metre bigger. This means that the survival area for the driver is also bigger. Other improvements include an escape hatch in the roof which can be used if the cab doors are blocked after impact. The rear-view mirrors also have a new design and are mounted on slender arms which reduces the driver's blind spots. In total, the cab's usable window area has increased by 17%. Well, when it comes to visibility which is a very important part of a driver's everyday work we have looked into the mirrors and you can see there's a completely new design so it's easy to actually see past them but at the same time you have a very good rear-view vision. A European study shows that over 90% of all accidents between trucks and other road users are due to the human factor. But only 25% of these are caused by the truck driver. That's why Volvo Trucks already offers its customers a huge range of active safety features like lane-changing support and driver alert support which ensures that the driver's attention stays on the road. To prevent accidents, all these features are also available in the new Volvo FH series. If an accident does happen, the driver needs to be protected. The new Volvo FH series has been subjected to a large range of crash tests which correspond to common real-life accidents. The most extensive is the full-scale barrier test where a complete truck is crashed. Here, everything is tested. From how the exterior and interior structures are damaged to how the dummy is injured and how the electric systems are affected. Uniquely to Volvo Trucks, the Swedish impact test is also performed. The tests we have done in this project have shown that we have reduced intrusion we have made the door module more stiff and function and we also have reduced the impact on the knee area for the driver. So the important safety message for this new cab is that we have had the possibility to test almost every new thing and that's why we can say this is the safest Volvo ever built. I'd say the most important thing with this new truck is that it's a driver's dream. You have perfect handling, perfect control of the vehicle and that's put together with the good visibility and so on and that we are also caring for everybody else in the traffic environment. This is how a truck should be. Safety is a part of Scania's DNA. Improved safety has been a key feature in the development of the new truck and that's why we are running tests over and over again. Some of the tests and technologies we are using are completely new for the industry and we are doing this to give you a very high level of safety both as a driver and as a road user around our vehicles. The purpose of the test is to simulate a trailer back which means that the truck will hit a barrier that corresponds to a fully loaded truck. We are in Germany at Bitburg, an old American airfield to perform a full-scale crash test where we will verify a new safety system to protect the occupants in a rollover accident. We don't have a driver in the cab due to safety reasons and we also have a crash test dummy in the driver's seat to do measurements. We will accelerate it up to 65 kph and then we will do a closing turn to the right until the vehicle flips over. We only have one shot at this and failure is not an option. Inflatable curtain will increase the safety in the vehicles it will stop the occupants from falling out in case of a rollover accident. This is our friend Thor. He is the latest crash test dummy and he is helping us to develop the new truck. One of the biggest advantages of using the Thor dummy is that it is built more like a human body than a regular crash test dummy that I use today. This makes the Thor move more like a human during the crash. Thor also gives us more measurements and better measurements which improves our valuations of the safety in the truck. The Thor is maybe not the best looking guy but he is very valuable both for us in our development and when it comes to money. He is as valuable as four or five brand new Scania trucks.