We said we’d touch more on the innovative “City Safety” system that will have its production debut in the 2010 Volvo XC60 crossover. Well, here it is–the lowdown on the latest safety technology that is Volvo’s pride and joy. After all, they can’t be touting the XC60 as the “safest Volvo ever” for nothing.
City Safety scans distance and speed and engages the brakes when needed.
City Safety is a system designed to prevent low-speed collisions, the kind motorists mostly encounter while driving through city traffic and crowded urban areas (hence the name). The key to this is an optical sensor or radar located in the car’s upper windshield. This ’senses’ the speed of the car in front of the XC60 about 50 times per second, and if the car gets too close and the driver doesn’t react, then City Safety brakes the XC60 automatically. Awesome!
According to Volvo Cars president and CEO Fredrik Arp, the 2010 XC60 “is packed with (Volvo’s) accumulated safety know-how and technology, both when it comes to preventing accidents and protecting all the occupants in a collision.” He added that Volvo is the first automaker to provide such a system as a standard in its models, and it is clearly the main thing that makes the XC60 the safest Volvo yet.
Only time will tell if City Safety makes a big impact in preventing collisions. As the system sees more action in different models, then it can truly be proven.
