VOLVO'S NEW CITY SAFETY AUTO-BRAKE TECHNOLOGY IS PRAISED BY THATCHAM
Thatcham, the UK's insurance organisation renowned for conducting research and development to promote safer cars, recently invited media, insurance companies and government agencies to a demonstration of three selected new technologies that can mitigate or prevent low-speed accidents. The one that made the greatest impression on all who attended was Volvo City Safety, which will be a standard feature on the new Volvo XC60.
"We were contacted by Thatcham, who offered to arrange a demonstration of City Safety. It is naturally extremely gratifying for us when a third party confirms the great potential of the City Safety function," says Thomas Broberg, technical advisor at Volvo Cars' Safety Centre.
Auto-brake systems from two other manufacturers were also presented, but it was Volvo City Safety that made the greatest impression on both organisers and observers. "All three systems offer increased protection and Volvo's system in particular impressed everyone with its autonomous function and because it intervenes at the last possible instant and can completely avoid a collision," says Matthew Avery, head of research at Thatcham. He continued; "The system will have a great effect on the number of low-speed collisions - in England and in the rest of the world."
75 percent of all collisions occur at speeds of 20 mph or lower. Volvo City Safety is a system that has been developed in-house to provide automatic braking at speeds under 20 mph and will be standard on the Volvo XC60. Together with Collision Warning with Autobrake, which will be available as an option, City Safety means that Volvo offers an auto-brake function at all speeds.
Volvo Cars is engaged in a dialogue with insurance companies in Europe, Canada and the United States about the possibility of offering lower premiums on cars fitted with City Safety.
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