Swedish car manufacturer, Volvo, have always been at the leading edge of safety. They are upping the ante again with some new technology, which is very specfiic to rural and remote area driving in Australia: Kangaroo avoidance technology.
The NRMA reckons that around 20,000 roo strikes occur each year, costing around $75 million dollars in claims. That’s not counting the danger to drivers and other road users, when swerving and emergency braking can cause much more serious damage than just damaged bodywork.
Kangaroos are a real challenge for Volvo, according to Volvo Cars’ Senior Safety Engineer, Martin Magnusson.
“In Sweden we have done research involving larger, slower moving animals like elk, reindeer and cows which are a serious threat on our roads. Kangaroos are smaller than these animals and their behaviour is more erratic. This is why it’s important that we test and calibrate our technology on real kangaroos in their natural environment.” Their testing is being done at Tidnibilla Nature Reserve, near Canberra.
Radars and cameras are used to help detect kangaroos on and beside the road, which can prepare for the collision, and hopefully avoid it. The radar is located in the grille of the vehicle, and a hi-res camera sits in the windscreen. The technology comes from cyclist and pedestrian safety software, which scans and monitors what is coming up, and evaluating the risk of collision. Where it takes the average human around 1.2 seconds to react, Volvo’s technology can do it in 0.5 seconds.
“This type of technology is not designed to take responsibility away from drivers. If the driver is inattentive the car will warn them and eventually make a hard braking to avoid a collision.” he said.
32 comments
Is this equipment going to be universal fitment to any vehicle and an alternative option to the Shoo Roo or will it be just for Volvo vehicles. If the equipment is a universal fi, at what cost to the vehicle owner.
So this is why the drivless Volo hit a kangaroo in adelaide las t weekend lol
The good old shoo roo no good then
Many years ago a work colleague purchased a brand new falcon and a shoo roo. The first trip into the country he was accosted by 3 Roos. He spent the next week searching for the switch to change from ‘Attract’ to ‘Repel’.
Bazza, the vehicle that hit the kangaroo was a Subaru Outback with its Eyesight crash avoidance system. The Volvos system is worlds better than the Subarus.
best and only effective method for roo avoidance – leave your car home
Unfortunatly this won’t keep the roos off the roads, this technology only prevents the minority from collision
That’s a little subdued don’t you think. Try driving from Dubbo to Brokenhill between 4:00pm onwa rds see how it works then. Just not roo’s. Goats as well!
Why not do wot 90% of Territorians do – there is a 90% chance that the roo will jump either left or right – soooo…just aim at the roo and you will have only a 10% chance of hitting it!!
I travel the New England Hwy 3 times a week and the amount of road kill on that road is astounding, the RMS have a truck daily removing the dead roos and even the occasional deer too off the road so us drivers aren’t swerving around them. I admit we do need some very good technology to reduce or eliminate these wildlife collisions, besides they are truely beautiful creatures.
Roo’s are Australia’s version of a crash test dummy. Whats wrong with a 12 gauge out the window.
I am a member of “PETA”. ( People , Eating ,Tasty, Animals )
The only one that benefits from Kangaroo’s are the Crash Repair workshops.
If this Volvo system warns and brakes quicker than a human reaction to hopefully avoid a frontal collision with a kangaroo, what will stop the rear end collision between this vehicle and an inattentive driver following?
Good luck with that. If your driving along the black top at 100 + km/h and your car sees a roo and hits the skids in half a second you’ll end up with a grey nomad or B-Double screaching , meandering and smoking in your mirror. With my experience ,steel frontal protection (bull bar) and drive and brake straight through attitude is what has kept me intact. I have seen so many lives destroyed after losing control at high speed trying to evade animals that have strayed onto the road!
Well at least Volvo is doing something about it. Any improvement is worth it, it will never be perfect but that is no reason to not implement it as if that were the caveat we would all be dead along time ago. I have a car with radar cruise control and have to say the first time I used it I was very hesitant however after a few trips I can say it really makes sense to me. Especially in convoy hour after hour, it just keeps the distance like a rubber band and allows me to be more alert to other issues. What troubles me though is just how many people have little feel for what is a safe space at 110, ESPECIALLY in a heavily loaded vehicle little own one towing a caravan. Killing or maiming wildlife and or the panic maneuvers as a result to avoid are no joke, on that I am sure all would agree. When I see people DELIBERATELY steer towards a lizard or snake… I will reserve my right to berate and humiliate you at the next fuel stop. It is moronic and UNAUSTRALIAN. I need a cup of tea.
what a great idea.. can it be adapted to fit any car?
If the car manifactors made a high pitch whistle into all cars most of the kangaroos would avoid the area that the noise is coming from ‘
I would have thought an infra-red based technology would have been a better option. The majority of vehicle strikes are at night when critters seem to come out of nowhere. A system that would alert drivers to warm objects hidden behind grass and trees ahead would at least prepare you for the possibility of something wandering onto the road. Radar is fine if it is standing in the middle of the road. The few things that I have hit over the years have come out of nowhere with no time to correct or brake.
This will be good for the far more dangerous land mines (aka wombats). Good steel barwork is better for roos
Worst thing you can do on Bitumen or even worse at 100kph when you see a Roo is brake. Recipe for rollover. A Roo will jump beside you for 100-200mtrs then suddenly jump sideways. Brake then and it will send you into a spin. p.s. Do we have to wear the “volvo cap” when driving with this technology?
Hi all. I have found this to be effective over the years through trial and error. Stick to a reasonable speed at night in rural areas and if your travelling during the summer months the only green pick is going to be on the sides of the bitumen so back off another 10 if you absolutely have to travel at night. In daylight hours a kangaroos eyesight is atrocious, they reley largely on their hearing. We all travel with high beam on so blinding a roo doesnt help. You will always get the ” Flyer ” who is coming out toward you and nothing you do will stop him or change his direction. however a lot of roo strikes can be prevented by trying this. As soon as you see a roo go straight to low beam and brake moderately. give him a chance to half see so he can get away from you rather than jump toward you, and the second thing is toot the horn intermitantly 1 second on 1 second off. This allows his hearing to lock on to your direction and also helps him turn in the right direction. With the flyer you will get a seconds notice before impact. Nothing you can do. with a bit of sensible speed this has helped me over the years.
Cheers Mike.
I have a Nissan Partol GU with bull bar. I have had 6ft kagaroo’s hitbthe front of my truck. No damage not even to my driving lights. The trick is not to alter the line you are driving. Technology may cause you car truck to brake and that could be dangerous. Travel in the outback this the right big truck and the right protection.
I’ve seen online more than 2 products for this purpose something called shoo-roo for some $ 500 and comes from queensland and the other is a cheaper one for some $ 50, neither of them will activate your brakes
Mike Mena your comments are the best for the day, common sense finally prevails. The best technology is common sense.
People should really have a think about it…The best way to avoid hitting kangaroos is to SLOW DOWN.
A friend has recently travelled over 27,000kms in his Patrol, covering the whole top end including the NW coast, and hit NOTHING. Earlier he took me on a “short trip” via Broken Hill, Innaminka, Copley, Arkaroola, Flinders Ranges etc, often running on station tracks rather than “main” roads. While we mostly travelled during the day, during darkness, he slowed down to 60-70, and on several occasions he was able to avoid hitting kangaroos. He also stopped to move shingleback lizards off the road to safety.
Why do people feel the need to drive like they are on a six lane freeway?
Hahahaha this is too funny .i live in the bush and hit on average a roo every 2 weeks…i dont need a fancy volvo with more electronic crap, im more than happy with my cruiser with a big steel bar on it and just mow em down
Slowing down in Kangaroo country is the best way to avoid them. At 90kph you can avoid them. At 100, you can’t. Simple as that. Slow down between dusk and dawn.
You can travel great distances at night sitting on 80kmh with lights on low beam so Roos aren’t greatly disturbed and your eyes are accustomed.
Lights on high beam and blazing spotlights render a driver blind for a short while when dipped for on-coming traffic. Meeting wildlife in those short moments could be fatal.
Goats are the smartest and soon learn re traffic but sheep and emus are dumb.
Cattle and horses are often hard to see and therefore, far preferable to come across them at 80kmh than 110.
We have had a Shoo Roo fitted to our Pathfinder and we have travelled all round Australia, coastal, inland and outback, and have never hit a Roo yet, we have seen plenty on out travels, and i am betting it is only a fraction of the price as the new equipment that Volvo are releasing.. We drop everything to watch the 4×4 show each Saturday, loved the one we just watched yesterday with the test on the Amorok…
The el cheepo shoo roo from your rev-up shop works brilliantly. Just make sure there is 6 inches (150mm ) of clear space behind where you mount it on your chosen mode of transport. Works very well on motorcycles too. As Mike says, slow down and dip your lights. This works for cattle camping on bush roads at night and turn on to park as you get real close. this gives the animal time to move clear without being blinded. If you can’t see without the latest and brightest driving lights you are driving too fast and also should concider a trip to spec savers.
what about the ones that jump into the side of your vehicle ?
The last two roos that I hit were actually going AWAY from the road, they turned around and ran straight into the side! They are such unpredictable animals….
I have spent over 18 years in the bush culling roos for a living and what I know is that kangaroos have
very good hearing. A roo will hear you coming down the road long before you see them. So if you dip your lights , take your foot of of the go pedal it alerts them that you are coming. Taking your foot off the pedal changes your the tone of your motor and that will alert them that something is not right, by dipping your lights also changes the surrounding light and that has them on edge, so by maintaining your speed and not dipping your lights a roo will sit there and watch you drive by. I have done this hundreds of times
and as yet have not had a single roo strike. I should mention that I live in WA and that most of my time spent working as a pro shooter was spent in the mid west and the Murchson areas.