Volvo hopes to make driving safer for everyone with connected cars

With its latest research project, Volvo is hoping to make driving in inclement weather a bit less dicey. The Swedish automaker is testing a safety system that uses mobile data networks to relay icy road conditions from vehicle to vehicle. Once you hit a slick spot, the location data uploads to Volvo’s database and then an instant notification is sent to other cars nearing that area.

Many automakers and governments are developing vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, which lets cars instantly communicate safety information to traffic in the immediate vicinity, but Volvo puts a uniquely Swedish spin on the tech with a new pilot project. Its cars will communicate data from wheel-slip sensors to not only alert other cars to icy road conditions, but also to road maintenance authorities. Volvo announced that 50 cars would participate in the pilot program, and that the “fleet would grow considerably” for next winter. The program is being run in conjunction with the Swedish Transport Administration and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.