Volvo is a leader in automotive safety, an they'll be demonstrating their latest "City Safety" technology in a tour of the new XC60 called "From Sweden with Lov".


"City Safety" is a new technology which uses a low-speed autonomous braking system to protect distracted drivers and those around them. Using a special laser sensor, the technology is intended to reduce the low-speed collisions common in urban situations or when the driver is distracted and doesn't react to an imminent impact. City Safety will most commonly work in situations like stop and go traffic and parking lots- and it will be standard on the XC60 when it goes on sale this winter.

A simple statistic necessitated the creation of the system, according to Volvo officials. Basically, 75 percent of accidents take place under 30 km/h, and in half of these, the driver doesn't' brake beforehand- namely because of distraction. Now, distracted drivers have a second chance- as City Safety can pre-charge the brakes for instant stopping power the moment the pedal is touched. Should a distracted driver fail to see the danger and not touch the brakes, they are automatically applied by the car on his behalf- providing the vehicle's speed is under 30 km/h.

With automatic brake application, City Safety may actually prevent an accident without driver intervention at speeds below 16 km/h. Between 16 and 30 km/h, Volvo says that the intent of the system is to reduce speed as much as possible prior to impact, in order to reduce injury and damage.

City Safety joins a lengthy list of other protective innovations available throughout Volvo's lineup, including the Personal Car Communicator, Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) and Driver Alert Control (DAC). The XC60 will make appearances in Montreal and Toronto later this month.




Photo Credit : Volvo