In the quest for an accident-free traffic environment, Volvo Car Corporation's short-term goal is to reduce deaths and injuries in a new Volvo car to zero by 2020.
"Zero is the one and only alternative for us. As the leader in car safety we can't accept that people are killed or injured just because they want to transport themselves from A to B," says Jan Ivarsson, head of Safety Strategy at Volvo Cars.
Driving a continuous safety development towards zero accidents includes the challenge to answer the ultimate question: What is zero?
"Time after time we have seen disaster become a reality. This will, of course, also happen in a traffic environment that is considered accident-free. However, our aim is to come so close to zero that one single car accident is defined as a disaster, not an acceptable part of our daily lives," says Mr Ivarsson.
Volvo Cars' strategy includes a broader view of safety than the traditional focus on accidents.
Roula Beiruty, marketing manager of Volvo Cars Middle East, said: "Working towards zero has been the main safety route for Volvo ever since the company was founded back in 1927. The aim has always been to make every new car model safer than the previous one."