Limitations of City Safety

The City Safety1 function may have limitations in certain situations.

Surroundings

Low objects

Low-hanging objects, e.g. a flag/pennant for projecting load, or accessories such as auxiliary lamps and bull bars that are higher than the bonnet limit the function.

Skidding

On slippery road surfaces the braking distance is extended, which may reduce the capacity of City Safety to avoid a collision. In such situations, the anti-lock brakes and the stability control ESC2 are designed to give the best possible braking force with maintained stability.

Oncoming light

The visual warning signal in the windscreen may be difficult to notice in the event of strong sunlight, reflections, when sunglasses are being worn or if the driver is not looking straight ahead.

Heat

In the event of high passenger compartment temperature caused by e.g. strong sunlight, the visual warning signal in the windscreen may be temporarily disengaged.

The camera and radar unit's field of view

The camera's field of vision is limited, which is why pedestrians, large animals, cyclists and vehicles in some situations cannot be detected, or they are detected later than anticipated.

Dirty vehicles may be detected later than others and if it is dark, motorcycles may be detected late or not at all.

If a text message in the driver display indicates that the camera and radar unit is obstructed, City Safety may be unable to detect pedestrians, large animals, cyclists, vehicles or road lines ahead of the car. This means that the functionality of City Safety may be reduced.

However, an error message is not shown in all situations where the windscreen sensors are obstructed. The driver must therefore take care to keep the area of windscreen in front of the camera and radar unit clear.

 Important

Maintenance of driver support components must only be performed at a workshop – an authorised Volvo workshop is recommended.

Driver intervention

Reversing

When your own car is reversing, City Safety is temporarily deactivated.

Low speed

City Safety is not activated at very low speeds - below 4 km/h (3 mph) - and the system therefore does not intervene in situations where your car is approaching a vehicle ahead very slowly, e.g. when parking.

Active driver

Driver commands are always prioritised, which is why City Safety does not intervene or postpone warning/intervention in situations where the driver is steering and accelerating in a decisive manner, even if a collision is unavoidable.

Active and aware driving behaviour can therefore delay a collision warning and intervention in order to minimise unnecessary warnings.

Miscellaneous

 Warning

Driver supports only warn of obstacles which their radar unit has detected – hence a warning may not be given, or it may be given with a certain delay.
  • Never wait for a warning or intervention. Apply the brakes when the situation requires.

 Warning

  • Warnings and brake interventions could be implemented late or not at all if a traffic situation or external influences mean that the camera and radar unit cannot detect pedestrians, cyclists, large animals or vehicles correctly.
  • For vehicles to be detected at night, their headlamps and rear lamp cluster must be switched on and shining clearly.
  • The camera and radar unit has a limited range for pedestrians and cyclists. The system can provide effective warnings and brake interventions as long as the relative speed is below 50 km/h (30 mph). For stationary or slow-moving vehicles, warnings and brake interventions are effective at vehicle speeds 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 above 70 km/h (43 mph). The warning and brake intervention for large animals is less effective at lower speeds.
  • Warnings for stationary or slow-moving vehicles and large animals could be disengaged due to darkness or poor visibility.
  • Warnings and brake interventions for pedestrians and cyclists are deactivated at vehicle speeds exceeding 80 km/h (50 mph).
  • Do not place, stick or mount anything on the outside or inside of the windscreen in front of or around the camera and radar unit — this can interfere with camera-dependent functions.
  • Objects, snow, ice or dirt in the area of the camera sensor may reduce its functionality, fully deactivate it or give incorrect 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 and steering assistance are only activated if there is a high risk of collision – you must therefore never wait for a collision warning or for City Safety to intervene.
  • The warning and brake intervention for pedestrians and cyclists are deactivated at vehicle speeds exceeding 80 km/h (50 mph).
  • City Safety does not activates any auto-brake functions in the event of heavy acceleration.

 Note

This function uses the car's camera and radar units, which have certain general limitations.

Market limitation

City Safety is not available in all countries. If City Safety does not appear in the centre display's Settings menu, the car is not equipped with this function.

Search path in the top view of the centre display:

  • SettingsMy CarIntelliSafe
  1. 1 The function is not available in all markets.
  2. 2 Electronic Stability Control