Risk of new Volvo owners being injured has been halved since 2000.
Wayne Gerdes -
CleanMPG - Aug 27, 2012
The Volvo V40 attacks the pedestrian collision problem quite literally head on.
Volvo's safety focus to build the safest cars in the world continues to be proven day after day by required crash tests being conducted in Europe, Asia and the United States.
And they continue to work on new accident avoidance and crash safety technologies that will bring the figure down even further according to a company release.
Volvo's knowledge-driven approach to car safety is based on input from real-life traffic; including findings by the company's own Traffic Accident Research team, which has been operative for more than 40 years.
Auto brake results in fewer accidents
The efficiency of Volvo Car Corporation's approach has been highlighted several times recently.
Earlier this year, the benefits of the City Safety technology were documented in an IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) report, which stated a collision frequency reduction with up to 22 percent.
A similar study by the Swedish insurance company Volvia shows that Volvos equipped with automatic braking are involved in 22 percent fewer rear end accidents than cars without auto brake.
The final report from the EuroFOT research projects concludes that a car with adaptive cruise control and collision warning cuts the risk of colliding with the vehicle in front on a motorway by up to 42 percent.
Top Ratings
In the latest report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Volvo S60 earns the best rating in a new small offset frontal crash test in 40 mph. A test in which some of the most popular in th small luxury segment were handed their hat. As in saying go back to the drawing board because your vehicle doesn’t even come close!
In this small front al offset crash test, only the Volvo S60 and Acura TL earned good ratings, while the Infiniti G earned an acceptable one. The Acura TSX, BMW 3 series, Lincoln MKZ and Volkswagen CC earned marginal ratings while the the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Lexus IS 250/350, Audi A4 and Lexus ES 350 earned poor.
New IIHS Frontal Crash Tests Will Change the “Top Safety Pick” Landscape
Last year, no less than five Volvo models - the C30, S60, S80, XC60 and XC90 - earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick although prior to the small frontal offset, most vehicles earned that accolade.
The Volvo S60, XC60 have both earned 5-stars on the toughest tests in the world from the National Highway and Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA). The Volvo C30, S80 and XC90 have not yet been rated by the agency.
Focus on the Driver
Volvo's present research focuses on three main areas:
- Autonomous Driving Support uses data from a camera and radar sensors to make sure that the car automatically follows the vehicle in front in a slow-moving line of traffic.
- Intersection Support alerts and automatically brakes for crossing traffic when necessary.
- Animal Detection is designed to detect and automatically brake for large animals, such as elks and deer.
The all-new Volvo V40 is an excellent example of Volvo's ability to turn real-life traffic knowledge into groundbreaking technology.
It features Pedestrian Detection with full auto brake - as well as the improved City Safety, which now operates at speeds up to 31 mph. Among the new features are the
worlds-first Pedestrian Airbag Technology, Lane Keeping Aid with haptic auto steering, Active High Beam and a Cross Traffic Alert radar system at the rear.
Volvo does not just talk safety, they prove it day in and day out as the company continues moving towards a safety vision that nobody should die or suffer serious injuries in a new Volvo car by the year 2020. Better put, some can "Talk the Talk" really well. Volvo instead "Walks the Walk..."
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