It was not so long ago that accident avoidance technology was just the

stuff of science fiction, and thoughts that it could impact on the bodyshop business seemed to be nothing more than scare mongering. Fast-forward just a few years and now the technology is very real and about to make an even bigger impact in the volume car market. Volvo is the latest car maker to go live with accident avoidance systems and there are hints that the same technology could soon appear on Ford vehicles.

From the end of the year the Volvo CitySafe system will be standard equipment on the new XC60 crossover vehicles, and it is likely to find its way on to the rest of the Volvo range in 2009. Volvo has set an ambitious goal of reducing rear-end accidents by as much as 50% on vehicles equipped with CitySafe technology. The system uses a windscreen-mounted laser that keeps track of the distance between itself and the car in front. An on-board computer then uses this data together with speed information to calculate if the vehicle in front is stopping and what is the necessary braking force to avoid impact. It makes this calculation 50 times per second. If the system feels that the driver is not applying the necessary force, it will apply the brakes and cut acceleration. The system is only effective at low speeds, but as a high percentage of bodyshop work relates to low speed impacts and parking accidents, repair centres must be concerned of the long-term effects this type of technology can have on future repair demand.