New York, NY. (March 28, 2008) Volvo City Safety – Volvo Cars’ in-house developed technology for avoiding low-speed collisions – is receiving the American "Traffic Safety Achievement Award" at this year’s World Traffic Safety Symposium in New York
City Safety is yet another example of Volvo’s aim to utilize real world traffic situations to develop solutions to prevent accidents. It is extremely gratifying that we are now being acknowledged with this prestigious award,” says Jonas Ekmark, head of preventive safety at the Volvo Cars Safety Center.
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"At this year's World Traffic Safety Symposium held at the New York International Auto show, a panel of experts consisting of traffic safety specialists from institutions such as the Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reward various developments that reduce the number of injuries and fatalities on American roads. Volvo’s safety feature, City Safety, made a huge impression on the jury members owing to its ability to prevent or lessen the severity of collisions at low speeds, thus reducing the risk of personal injuries and damage to vehicles.
“Volvo offers this type of feature as standard equipment,” says Arp. “City Safety clearly signals that the new XC60 is one of the safest cars Volvo has ever produced. The car is packed with our accumulated safety know-how and technology, both when it comes to helping to prevent accidents and protecting all the occupants in a collision.” |
Volvo will be the world's first to install City Safety as standard equipment in a vehicle. Launched later this year, the XC60 is Volvo's first car to have this system. Approximately 75% of all collisions are at speeds less than 18 mph. In 50 percent of cases the driver does not even brake before the collision and the reason is usually insufficient concentration. If the vehicle in front brakes suddenly and City Safety assesses that a collision is imminent, the brakes are prepared for action. If the driver does not take action, the car is braked automatically. At speeds less than 9 mph, City Safety can entirely avoid accidents, at speeds between 10-18 mph, the system applies brake force to reduce vehicle speed and help reduce occupant injuries and vehicle damage.
"With City Safety, we hope to eliminate whiplash injuries, to both vehicles involved in typical city driving low speed accidents along with eliminating vehicle body damages," states Ekmark. "Even with just reducing vehicle speed, this system will help to consequences of low speed impacts. The potential for reducing the risk of both personal injuries and car bodywork damage makes City Safety highly interesting from an insurance perspective. Volvo Cars is currently involved in negotiations with several insurance companies in Europe who are considering an insurance premium discount of up to 30 percent for cars equipped with City Safety.
To learn more about the New Volvo XC60 and City Safety, click here.
To read the New Volvo XC60 brochure, click here.
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