PETALING JAYA: Volvo Cars is once again introducing an initiative that challenges the way industry and public perceive safety with the campaign titled ‘A Million More’ which highlights car safety through the years and from 2020, and that all new Volvo cars will have a speed cap of 180kph.

Volvo, a name that is synonymous with safety, gave the world the first three-point safety belt in 1959, through the invention of Nils Bohlin – a Volvo Engineer.

Noting the significance of this breakthrough in car safety and in a conscious decision to put people’s lives first, Volvo immediately made Bohlin's patent available to all car makers.

However, Bohlin’s design was largely rejected by the industry and public for many years despite the experiments and data supporting its efficacy.

After years of persistent advocacy and leadership by Volvo, the public finally took to seat belt.

This life-saving invention would eventually lead to the introduction of Malaysia’s seatbelt legislation in 1979.

According to the feedback recorded by Volvo, the public dubbed the safety belt law to be “terrible idea” and was also called “a violation of humans rights” by The New York Times in 1973.

Today, almost every car in the market has a safety belt and it has been estimated to save more than a million lives.

At the turn of a new decade this year, Volvo Cars introduces another “terrible idea” to send a strong signal about the dangers of speeding.

Since its global announcement in March 2020, Volvo Cars has started a conversation about whether car makers have the right or even an obligation to install technology in cars that changes a driver’s behaviour.

Nalin Jain, Managing Director of Volvo Car Malaysia, said: “The reactions to the 180kph speed cap is similar, if not nearly identical, to the comments from the general public in 1973. We know that our decision to introduce a speed cap would cause a stir amongst the public, but sometimes all it takes is that one person to come out and make a stance to change the world. For us, controversial or not, it is making the hard and uncomfortable decision to save a million more lives all the more worth it.”

Volvo Car’s ‘A Million More’ campaign kicks off with a new content series that sees the personal accounts of car accident survivors and the role of the seat belt in saving their lives.

For more information on the campaign, visit Volvo Car Malaysia on Facebook and Instagram.

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