The all new Volvo XC90 is going to be officially going to be revealed in August. But ahead of that, Volvo is clearly going to set the bar when it comes to safety. Consider the following safety technologies that will be available in the XC90:
Run-off road protection
Run-off road is a common accident type with different causes, such as driver distraction, fatigue or poor weather conditions. For example, half of all traffic fatalities in the United States are road departure accidents, while in Sweden, single-vehicle accidents involve one third of all fatal and severe injury crashes with passenger cars. To combat this, Volvo Cars developed Safe Positioning.
The Safe Positioning capability means that in a run-off road scenario, the all-new Volvo XC90 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 forcesthat 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 XC90 also features technologies that help the driver avoid run-off road scenarios:
- The Lane Keeping Aid applies extra steering torque if the car is about to leave the lane unintentionally.
- Driver Alert Control is also standard detects and warns tired or inattentive drivers.
- Rest Stop Guidance directs the driver to the nearest rest area.
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. This is a common scenario at busy city crossings as well as on highways, where the speed limits are higher. The all-new Volvo XC90 detects a potential crash and brakes automatically in order to avoid a collision or mitigate the consequences of a crash.
Both of these are world firsts from Volvo. Which will keep Volvo on the top the heap when it comes to safety. But they didn’t stop there. They also brought the following to the table:
- 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.
- Groundbreaking rollover prevention and protection: The all-new XC90 comes with the latest generation Roll Stability Control as standard. 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: City Safety will become the umbrella name for all of Volvo Cars’ auto brake functions – which are standard equipment in the all-new XC90. 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 technology as standard. It has been further 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.
- 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 enables safe and comfortable driving by following the vehicle in front in slow-moving queues. Acceleration, braking and steering are controlled automatically.
- To help keep the occupant space inside intact in a crash, the all-new XC90 has literally been made stronger in every sense. This is achieved by more extensive use of hot-formed boron steel, which is the strongest type of steel presently used in the car body industry. 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.
- When the driver activates the Park Assist Pilot in a parallel parking situation, the 12 sensors in the XC90 start to scan the side of the car for empty parking slots. When a parking slot measuring a minimum of 1.2 times the car’s length is detected, the driver is notified by an audible signal and a message in the instrument cluster. In a bay parking situation, the slot needs to be the width of the car plus one metre. The display then guides the driver step by step via texts and animations in the instrument cluster until the car is parked.
- The all-new XC90 also features a 360° Surround View that gives the driver a bird’s-eye view, an overview of the surrounding area, seen from a point above the car. This bird’s-eye view is enabled by four concealed fish-eye cameras – one integrated into the front, one integrated in each of the door mirrors and one fitted above the rear number plate. The 360° Surround View also gives the driver comfortable access to other views of the surrounding area such as front, rear and side views.
- Cross Traffic Alert covers the driver’s back when reversing out of a parking space. It warns of approaching traffic up to 30 metres on each side, alerting the driver with an audible signal and a warning on the centre screen.
Volvo’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. Given all of the safety technology in the all new XC90, that goal should be attainable.
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All New Volvo XC90 To Have Cutting Edge Safety Technology
The all new Volvo XC90 is going to be officially going to be revealed in August. But ahead of that, Volvo is clearly going to set the bar when it comes to safety. Consider the following safety technologies that will be available in the XC90:
Run-off road protection
Run-off road is a common accident type with different causes, such as driver distraction, fatigue or poor weather conditions. For example, half of all traffic fatalities in the United States are road departure accidents, while in Sweden, single-vehicle accidents involve one third of all fatal and severe injury crashes with passenger cars. To combat this, Volvo Cars developed Safe Positioning.
The Safe Positioning capability means that in a run-off road scenario, the all-new Volvo XC90 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 forcesthat 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 XC90 also features technologies that help the driver avoid run-off road scenarios:
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. This is a common scenario at busy city crossings as well as on highways, where the speed limits are higher. The all-new Volvo XC90 detects a potential crash and brakes automatically in order to avoid a collision or mitigate the consequences of a crash.
Both of these are world firsts from Volvo. Which will keep Volvo on the top the heap when it comes to safety. But they didn’t stop there. They also brought the following to the table:
Volvo’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. Given all of the safety technology in the all new XC90, that goal should be attainable.
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This entry was posted on July 26, 2014 at 10:08 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Volvo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.