The prize was received by Prof Lotta Jakobsson, senior technical specialist safety at Volvo Cars Safety Centre, at the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) Conference in Seoul, South Korea.

At the ESV Conference, Prof Jakobsson held a presentation about Volvo Cars' outstanding achievements within pedestrian protection. She presented a paper on the Pedestrian Airbag Technology in the new Volvo V40.

‘The purpose of the world's first airbag for pedestrians is to help protect these vulnerable road users in certain situations when they impact the bonnet and the area around the windscreen, where there may be a risk of serious head injuries,’ said Lotta Jakobsson.

In China, 25% of traffic fatalities are pedestrians. In Europe, the figure is 14% and in the USA 12%.

To help counteract the danger, Volvo Cars launched its Pedestrian Detection with full auto brake in 2010. The system can avoid a collision with a pedestrian at speeds of up to 35 km/h if the driver does not respond in time. At higher speeds, the focus is on reducing the car's speed as much as possible before the collision.

In order to mitigate the consequences if a collision with a pedestrian is unavoidable, the Volvo V40, launched in 2012, comes equipped with the world's first Pedestrian Airbag Technology.

‘The airbag has a dual function. It raises the bonnet to create distance. Then it helps to cushion the impact by covering the hard parts around the windscreen,’ explained Prof Jakobsson.

The award follows the Volvo’s V40 achievement of the best Euro NCAP score ever. Last year saw the model achieve a five-star Euro NCAP rating and also win the Euro NCAP Best in Class in the Small Family class – with the best overall result ever recorded by the organization. The V40 scored an all-time high in the pedestrian evaluation by attaining 88 per cent of the total score.

‘Several studies have documented that our collision-avoiding systems lead to significant accident reductions in real-life traffic. By continuously introducing new preventive and protective systems, we keep moving towards our aim that by 2020 no one should be injured or killed in a new Volvo,’ concluded Prof Jakobsson.