Back in 2008, Volvo said that they were going to make an injury-proof car by 2020. A Swedish auto mechanic that works for Volvo said that they want to use technologies such as radar and sonar to try and avoid accidents on the road.

They also believed that the death rate could be cut in half if they slowed down the collision by at least 10 mph, and they could achieve this by adding an auto-break and auto-steering system.

Volvo has been testing the cars in Gothenburg, Sweden, and they stage about 400 accidents a year. They also have two 150 meter tunnels, and one of them even rotates, so they can try to crash these cars in any way possible so they can have accurate tests.

These companies are focused on safety mainly because of money. President of the Connected Vehicle Trade Association, Scoot McCormick, says that about 450 billion dollars are lost in accidents and deaths each year.

In 2014, Volvo was testing the XC90 model of the car, and the situation was that the test dummy named Thor and a one and a half-year-old child (also a dummy) were driving this car, and he “accidentally” ignored the warning and drove into a ditch. They hit the ditch at about 50 mph, and the car got flung into the sky and rolled a pretty far distance.

After the car stopped, the dummies were checked on, and they surprisingly only sustained minor injures, and the car was mostly undamaged. The only part of the car that was damaged was the front left wheel. This proves that the safety of the passengers depends on the durability and integrity of the car, and this is what Volvo is trying to achieve. “I would get one of these, but I probably can’t afford it,” says Colin Hill, a junior at Lakewood High School.