Volvo's name has long since been connected with safety, and
the firm has recently announced a few new features for the S80, XC70, and V70
that aim to keep the link alive. Volvo's most interesting feature may be a new
take on monitoring driver behavior. Driver Alert Control, as Volvo calls it,
uses a camera and sensors to monitor a car's general behavior in terms of speed
and staying in lane, not the driver's behavior within a cockpit. If, through a
combination of factors, it calculates poor driving the car will sound a beep and
flash a coffee cup on screen to remind the driver to take a break. Adaptive
cruise control, as with most cars, allows the driver to set a speed range and
desired distance from the next car. The system then self-regulates speed based
on those parameters. Volvo also includes a distant alert feature that will
additionally give a warning if the driver is tailgating while not in adaptive
cruise control mode.
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