Volvo claims that the all-new XC90 – due in August – will offer the most comprehensive and technologically sophisticated standard safety package available in the automotive industry with run-off road protection package and auto brake at intersection capability.
Run-off road happens due to driver distraction, fatigue or poor weather conditions. Safe Positioning in a run-off road scenario, detects what is happening and the front safety belts are tightened to keep the occupants in position. The belts are firmly tightened as long as the car is in motion.
To help prevent spine injuries, energy-absorbing functionality between the seat and seat frame cushions the vertical forces that can arise when the car encounters a hard landing in the terrain. The solution is capable of reducing the vertical occupant forces by up to one third. This counteracts spine injuries, which are serious and relatively frequent consequences of these situations.
The Lane Keeping Aid applies extra steering torque if the car is about to leave the lane unintentionally, while Driver Alert Control,
Other safety feature available on the all-new XC90 are:
- Auto brake at intersections –The XC90 is the first car in the world with technology that features automatic braking if the driver turns in front of an oncoming car.
- Pre-crash protection in rear impacts – rearward facing radars detect if a rear impact is imminent and safety belts are tightened in advance in order to keep the occupant in a good position. Lights also start flashing to warn the driver behind, and the brakes are activated to help reduce the impact on the occupants.Volvo Cars’ new seat design, integrates the next generation of the groundbreaking Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), this new holistic rear impact pre-crash function helps reduce whiplash injuries.
- Rollover prevention and protection- The system uses advanced sensors to calculate the risk of rolling over. If the risk is assessed as high, engine torque is restricted and some braking force is applied to one or more wheels to counteract the rollover tendency. If a rollover is inevitable, the Inflatable Curtains are activated. They cover all three seat rows for an extended period of time to help prevent head injuries. All seven seats in the XC90 have pyrotechnical safety belt pre-tensioners that also activate in rollover situations.
- City Safety auto braking functions –The purpose of the new collision avoidance system is to assist the driver in case there is a high risk of collision with another vehicle, pedestrian or cyclist through an intuitive warning strategy and a brake support system. If a collision is almost unavoidable, the system will provide autonomous braking when the driver fails to respond to the imminent threat.
- Extended Road Sign Information –The XC90 is the first car on the market with Road Sign Information is enhanced to show an extended selection of road signs in the digital display in front of the driver, such as various types of supplementary signs.
- Covers the blind spots- – The Blind Spot Information System informs about vehicles in the blind spots. It also alerts the driver to vehicles that are approaching fast from behind.
- Queue Assist – Queue Assist enables safe and comfortable driving by following the vehicle in front in slow-moving queues. Acceleration, braking and steering are controlled automatically.
The complete safety cage around the occupants is made from hot-formed boron steel and is designed for maximum occupant protection in all types of crash scenarios. The hot-formed steel amounts to about 40 per cent of the total body weight.
Volvo Cars’s vision is to design cars that should not crash. In the short term, the aim is that by 2020 no one should be killed or injured in a new Volvo car.
Volvo’s Drive Me is self-driving cars in Gothenburg & NYC. AT&T’s single SIM will be availalbe for Volvo this su