Preventing
Accidents
Fewer accidents mean fewer injuries.
Reducing
Injuries
A safety system that’s more than the sum of its parts.
Pushing
Boundaries
Working towards a safer world.
Our Safety
Firsts
A history of our safety innovations.
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CIRCLE OF LIFE
Discover the lifecycle of our safety philosophy.
Preventive
Safety Systems
Being safe is about preventing accidents – not just projection.
the Safety
concept car
Discover the concept car that spawned 15 safety innovations.
The Circle of Life
Underpinning all Volvo’s crash-test research is a safety philosophy that our engineers call the “circle of life”.
1 - Real-life accidents
Volvo is one of the few car manufacturers with its own accident research team. Since 1970, the team has studied over 40,000 accidents involving a Volvo. Knowledge saves lives.
2 - Safety requirements
Volvo has always been a leader in safety, and all modern Volvos meet or exceed current statutory requirements set by governments for car manufacturers.
3 - Product developments
This is when components, systems and complete cars are developed. Extensive computer simulation testing is used by safety engineers and safety experts. Any Volvo car has usually been crash tested and studied in the computer thousands of times during development.
4 – Testing
One of the most crucial model development stages, and why Volvo invested so heavily in our state-of-the-art Safety Center, is where we reconstruct and simulate real-life accidents in the laboratory.
5 – Production
Once testing is over, new models and safety innovations go into production and find their place in real-world road situations. Then, the whole cycle begins again.
Our preventative safety systems
At Volvo we take a holistic approach, so safety isn't just about safety cages or crumple zones, it’s about how best to protect people in real-life situations. That’s why we design innovative pro-active safety systems to help prevent accidents from happening in the first place. All to help keep you safer.
City Safety
To help reduce the consequences of a low speed collision in urban traffic and slow-moving traffic queues, Volvo has launched the foreseeing City Safety, a standard feature in the Volvo S60, S80, XC70 and XC90. Due to the infrared laser sensor, the City Safety Technology can determine whether you are approaching a vehicle from behind too fast. If the driver fails to react in due time, the City Safety will automatically apply the brakes in order to slow down the car either to avoid the collision, which is possible if the speed difference between the two vehicles is below 9 mph or reduce the impact if the speed difference is between approximately 9 and 19 mph.
Driver Alert Control &
Lane Departure Warning
The Driver Alert Control is the first in the world of passenger cars to alert the driver when his or her concentration level is affected. Together with the Lane Departure Warning, which signals when the car crosses road markings without obvious reason, the system is designed to address the risk of accidents caused by driver distraction.
Driver Alert Control is designed for driving on major roads and motorways, and is not intended for use in urban traffic. The system operates at speeds exceeding 40 mph and only if there are detectable lane markers in front of the vehicle.
Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake
At speeds up to 22mph, Volvo's innovative Pedestrian Detection system can detect if anyone unexpectedly steps out in front of your car. It first alerts you with a flashing red warning light on the windshield and an audible alarm, and if you fail to brake in time, it applies the full force of the brakes automatically.
The Safety Concept Car
More than 15 safety innovations found in today's Volvos were first proposed over a decade ago with our Safety Concept Car. Along with its cutting-edge technology, it also foreshadowed the design of the Volvo C30. Built to reduce injuries to a minimum and improve driver visibility, it featured transparent window pillars, infra-red night vision and automatic adjustment of seats, controls and pedals for optimum driver positioning.
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Meet
Linda
Meet the virtual crash test dummy that thinks it’s pregnant.
Smarter
Dummies
Even our crash-test dummies are smarter than average.
3-point
Seatbelt
Discover why we gave away one of our safest inventions.
Electric Car
Safety
Preventing injuries from batteries is also our business.
Meet Linda
To Volvo, an unborn child is already a passenger. Which is why at our Safety Research Centre in Gothenburg we created Linda; a virtual pregnant crash test dummy. Data collected helps make our cars safer for pregnant women and their own precious cargo.
Smarter dummies
We use a variety of adult and child sized dummies, each matching the weight, size and proportions of their human counterparts. Add sophisticated electronics measuring deceleration, displacement and other forces involved in an accident, and it equals one smart dummy.
3 Point Seatbelt
Once, seatbelts were simple lap-belts that were only effective to a degree. But in 1959, Volvo safety engineer Nils Bohlin invented the three-point seatbelt, which is still used in cars today. And to ensure it was adopted by everyone - not just Volvo drivers - we deliberately didn’t patent it either.
Electric Car Safety
Volvo Cars conducts extensive analysis of a variety of safety scenarios for cars with electric power. Through advanced automatic monitoring of battery status and by encapsulating the battery and protecting it effectively in a collision, the result is a comprehensive safety package of the very highest class.
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Traffic Accident
Research
When accidents happen we’re there to learn why.
Volvo Cars
Safety Center
Discover how crashing cars can actually save lives.
The Volvo Saved
My Life Club
Meet people who owe their lives to their Volvos.
Traffic Accident Research
Volvo was the first car manufacturer to create its own Traffic Accident Research Unit. Since its launch in 1970, the Unit has analysed over 40,000 accidents and used that research to develop innovative solutions like our Whiplash Protection System that has proven to reduce long-term whiplash injuries by more than 50%.
Volvo Cars Safety Center
Knowledge saves lives. Opened in 2000, Volvo’s unique crash-test safety laboratory enables us to recreate the many different accident types on the road, such as car-to-car, car-to-truck and car-to-bus in different speeds and crash angles. A huge technological investment to help save lives.
The Volvo Saved My Life Club
Our commitment to reducing accidents isn’t driven by statistics. It’s about mothers. Fathers. Children and grandchildren. Anyone who uses a car. The Volvo Saved My Life Club is the human face of all our technology, engineering and every evening we spent working late.
And every one of these stories makes it all worthwhile.
The Bowles Family
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
“I was turning left into the local community center to play volleyball. I had my entire family in the car.”
The Klein Family
Mission Viejo, California
“We impacted, the front of the cars hit, it spun us around, the back of our cars hit…we went down a hill through trees and shrubs and bushes.”
Donelle Morris
Queens Creek, Arizona
“I swerved into oncoming traffic, and hit a semi...My car spun around, and I saw in front of me the truck, trailer, rolling over the street.”
More True Life Stories
http://www.volvocars.com/us/top/community/volvosavedmylife/Pages/default.aspx
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Our Safety Firsts
A history of our safety innovations.
1944
Passenger compartment steel safety cage.
1944
Laminated windshields standard 15 years before mandatory (in USA).
1959
World’s first 3-point front lap/shoulder seatbelts as standard.
1960
Padded instrument panel.
1964
World’s first rear-facing child seat.
1966
Crumple zones front & rear.
1967
Rear outboard 3-point lap/shoulder seatbelts standard.
1968
Front seat head restraints.
1969
Front seat inertia reel seatbelts.
1970
Accident Research Team.
1971
Seat belt reminder standard.
1972
Childproof locks on rear doors.
1972
Rear outboard seat inertia reel seatbelts.
1973
Collapsible steering column.
1974
Energy-absorbing bumpers.
1974
Isolated fuel tank protected from rear collisions.
1978
World’s first child safety booster cushion.
1982
Wide-angle rear view mirror.
1982
Front and rear anti-submarining protection.
1984
Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS).
1986
High-mounted brake lights in rear window.
1986
World’s first rear center 3-point lap/shoulder seatbelts.
1987
Frontal airbag.
1990
Integrated child safety booster cushion in rear center seat.
1991
World’s first Side Impact Protection System (SIPS) - 5 years before mandatory.
1991
Automatic front height adjusting seatbelts.
1993
3-point lap/shoulder seatbelts standard equipment in all seats.
1994
World’s first side impact airbags introduced in new models.
1997
Roll Over Protection System (ROPS).
1998
World’s first Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS).
1998
World’s first full length inflatable curtain (IC).
2000
ISOFIX child seat mounting system.
2000
Dual-stage frontal airbags.
2000
Volvo Safety Center opened.
2001
Volvo Safety Concept Car (SCC).
2002
Rollover Stability Control (RSC) in Volvo XC90 using gyro sensor and DSTC.
2002
Rollover Protection System (ROPS), including long duration Inflatable Curtain (IC) in all seat rows, seatbelt pretensioners, and reinforced roof structure.
2002
Linda the virtual pregnant crash test dummy.
2003
World’s first new patented front structure.
2003
Intelligent Driver Information System (IDIS).
2003
Rear seatbelt warning.
2003
Traffic Research Team Bangkok.
2004
World’s first Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) in passenger cars.
2004
Water repellent glass.
2005
World’s first door mounted inflatable curtain (DMIC) in new C70.
2006
Collision Warning with Brake support.
2007
World’s first integrated two-stage booster cushion with extended IC (Inflatable Curtain) and force limiter adapted for children.
2007
New, stronger side structure using different grades of high-strength steel.
2007
Driver Alert System, including Driver Alert Control and Lane Departure Warning.
2007
Collision Warning with Auto Brake.
2007
Alcoguard.
2008
World’s first City Safety system for avoiding low-speed collisions standard in XC60.
2008
Vision 2020: By 2020 no-one should be killed or injured in a Volvo car.
2009
New range of seat restraints for infants and children up to 12 years.
2010
World’s first Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake launched in S60 and V60.
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