AUTOWEEK'S FAST FIVE: INGRID SKOGSMO; As director of the Volvo Cars Safety Center in Sweden, Skogsmo gets to smash up cars-some 400 per year-all in the name of science. How cool is that?(News)

Byline: MIKE DUFF

AW: Safety is increasingly important in both Europe and America. Presumably Volvo is pretty proud of its pioneering role in this?

Skogsmo: Yes, definitely. We're very proud-in fact we always say there is a little bit of Volvo in every car: the three-point seatbelt that we were the first manufacturer to produce and install back in 1959.

AW: What attracted you to working in safety?

Skogsmo: I've always been interested in the human being, and as I was studying as an engineer I jumped over to medicine for a while, but then I came back. It feels so important to me to do something that protects human beings out there in the real world-and the car is a fascinating project for any engineer to be involved with.

AW: How much safer can we still make cars?

Skogsmo: I think we're approaching the slowing-down point. The big, easy gains have been taken with the three-point belt and the basic structure of vehicles-understanding the need to put space between the accident and the occupant. It might be that crash safety is not where the ...