City Safety limitations

City Safety1 functionality may be reduced in certain situations.

Surroundings

Low objects

Hanging objects, such as flags for overhanging loads or accessories such as auxiliary lights or front protective grids that extend beyond the height of the hood, may limit City Safety functionality.

Slippery road conditions

The extended braking distance on slippery roads may reduce City Safety's capacity to help avoid a collision. In these types of situations, the Anti-lock Braking System and Electronic Stability Control (ESC2) are designed for optimal braking power with maintained stability.

Backlighting

The visual warning signal in the windshield may be difficult to detect in bright sunlight, if there are reflections, or if the driver is wearing sunglasses or not looking straight ahead.

Heat

If the temperature in the passenger compartment is high due to e.g. bright sunlight, the visual warning signal in the windshield may be temporarily disabled.

Camera and radar sensor's field of vision

The camera's field of vision is limited and in certain situations, it may be unable to detect pedestrians, large animals, cyclists or vehicles, or it may detect them later than expected.

Vehicles that are dirty may be detected later than clean vehicles, and in dark conditions, motorcycles may be detected late or not at all.

If a text message displayed in the instrument panel indicates that the camera/radar sensor is obstructed, it may be difficult for City Safety to detect pedestrians, large animals, cyclists, vehicles or lane markings in front of the vehicle. City Safety functionality may therefore be reduced.

Text messages may not be displayed for all situations in which the windshield sensors are blocked. The driver must therefore always keep the windshield in front of the camera/radar sensor clean.

 Important

Only a workshop may perform maintenance on driver support components – an authorized Volvo workshop is recommended.

Driver intervention

Backing up

City Safety is temporarily deactivated when the vehicle is backing up.

Low speed

City Safety is not activated at very low speeds under 4 km/h (3 mph). The system will therefore not intervene in situations in which your vehicle is approaching another vehicle very slowly, such as when parking.

Active driver

Action by the driver always has priority. City Safety will therefore not react or will react at a later stage with a warning or intervention in situations in which the driver is clearly steering and operating the accelerator pedal, even if a collision is unavoidable.

An active and aware driving style may therefore delay collision warnings and intervention in order to minimize unnecessary warnings.

Other limitations

 Warning

The driver support system only issues a warning for obstacles detected by its radar sensor – thus, a warning may come after a delay or not at all.
  • Never wait for a warning or assistance. Apply the brakes when necessary.

 Warning

  • Warnings and brake interventions can be triggered late or not at all if the traffic situation or external influences prevent the camera and radar unit from properly detecting pedestrians, cyclists, large animals or vehicles ahead of the vehicle.
  • To be able to detect vehicles at night, its front and rear lights must work and illuminate clearly.
  • The camera and radar unit have a limited range for pedestrians and cyclists – the system can provide effective warnings and brake interventions if the relative speed is lower than 50 km/h (30 mph). For stationary or slow-moving vehicles, warnings and brake interventions are effective at vehicle speeds of up to 70 km/h (43 mph). Speed reduction for large animals is less than 15 km/h (9 mph) and can be achieved at vehicle speeds over 70 km/h (43 mph). At lower speeds, the warning and brake intervention for large animals is less effective.
  • Warnings for stationary or slow-moving vehicles and large animals can be disengaged due to darkness or poor visibility.
  • Warnings and brake interventions for pedestrians and cyclists are disengaged at vehicle speeds over 80 km/h (50 mph).
  • Do not place, affix or mount anything on the inside or outside of the windshield, or in front of or around the camera and radar unit – this could disrupt camera-based functions.
  • Objects, snow, ice or dirt in the area of the camera sensor can reduce the function, disengage it completely or give an improper function response.

 Warning

  • The City Safety auto-brake function can prevent a collision or reduce collision speed, but to ensure full brake performance the driver should always depress the brake pedal – even when the car auto-brakes.
  • The warning is only activated if there is a high risk of collision – you must therefore never wait for a collision warning.
  • Warnings and brake interventions for pedestrians and cyclists are disengaged at vehicle speeds over 80 km/h (50 mph).
  • City Safety does not activate auto-braking intervention during heavy acceleration.

 Note

The function uses the vehicle's camera and radar sensor, which has certain general limitations.

Market limitations

City Safety is not available in all countries. If City Safety is not shown in the center display's Settings menu, your vehicle is not equipped with this function.

In the center display's Top view, tap:

  • SettingsMy CarIntelliSafe
  1. 1 This function is not available on all markets.
  2. 2 Electronic Stability Control