Every Future Volvo Car Will Be Limited To 180kmph

• The aim is to reduce speeding-related road accidents.
• The carmaker will also equip its lineup with a ‘care key’ for additional speed limits.
• The reasoning behind this is that excessive speeding renders safety equipment useless in an accident.
• It is also working on autonomous driving tech for its future lineup.

When it comes to vehicular safety, Volvo has always been at the forefront. The carmaker is famous in the auto industry for pioneering many safety equipment as well as having consistently high safety standards in its cars. In its pursuit of safety, the carmaker had announced last year that it aims to reduce road traffic deaths to zero under its Vision 2020 campaign. And now, the carmaker has revealed that all its future cars will have a top speed limit of 112mph (180kmph).

The aim of this speed cap is to reduce speeding-related road accidents which are primarily responsible for fatalities in traffic around the world. For those who want a lower speed cap, Volvo will provide a ‘care key’ with every car from 2021. This will allow drivers to set additional limitations on the car’s 180kmph speed cap before lending cars to family members or to other younger and inexperienced drivers.

On the face of it, Volvo’s decision is rather controversial, but the manufacturer has some valid reasons. When going above certain speeds, some of the car’s safety technology and infrastructure design are not enough to avoid severe injuries and fatalities in case of an accident. Another point to note is that the speed limit isn’t that low, as there are very few public roads where you can safely and legally hit 180kmph. 

According to the company, some of the key causes of road accidents are overspeeding, intoxication and distraction. While Volvo has taken a crucial step to prevent speeding, it is also working on solutions against the other two factors. This includes its recent partnership with Luminar to develop autonomous driving tech.