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Volvo to host public demonstrations of City Safety in Vancouver Post Date: Mar 23,2009 Category: Volvo Cars of Canada Corp. today announced that it will be hosting a public preview of the new XC60 in Vancouver and giving attendees the opportunity to experience the company’s award-winning City Safety low-speed autonomous braking system in a closed environment. The tour is called “From Sweden with Löv”. The Volvo City Safety system was developed to reduce low-speed collisions where the driver is distracted and doesn’t react to an imminent collision in heavy stop-and-go traffic, in parking lots and when entering an intersection from stop. It will be standard equipment on the XC60 crossover when it launches in April, 2009. The tour will be held March 30-31 at the Rocky Mountaineer Station (1755 Cottrell Street) between 18:00 and 21:00. Volvo Canada has launched an online sign-up sheet for people who wish to attend. https://secure.volvocanada.com/forms/xc60tour.aspx About City Safety Volvo Cars' real world safety research indicates that 75 percent of all reported collisions take place at speeds of up to 30 km/h. In 50 percent of those cases, the driver does not brake before the collision due mainly to distraction. It's these situations that fuelled Volvo Cars' motivation to develop the City Safety system. City Safety is active at speeds of up to 30 km/h. If the vehicle in front brakes suddenly and City Safety determines that a collision is likely, the brakes are pre-charged. If the driver remains inactive, City Safety engages the brakes automatically. If the relative speed difference between the two vehicles is less than 15 km/h, it's possible that City Safety may help the driver entirely avoid the collision. With a relative speed difference of between 15 and 30 km/h, the focus shifts to reducing speed as much as possible prior to impact. Laser sensor monitors traffic in front City Safety monitors traffic with a laser sensor integrated into the windscreen near the rear-view mirror. The laser sensor can detect vehicles and other objects up to 10 metres in front of the XC60's front bumper. City Safety was developed to react to vehicles in front that are either at a standstill or are moving in the same direction as the Volvo vehicle. Based on the gap to the vehicle in front and the XC60's own speed, the system makes 50 calculations a second to determine what braking force is required to avoid a collision. If the calculated braking force reveals that the risk of a collision is imminent and the driver fails to respond, City Safety helps to either avoid or reduce the severity of the collision by automatically engaging the brakes and reducing the throttle opening. At the same time, the brake lights are activated to warn other traffic. Benefits everyone The best possible situation is for no collision to occur, dramatically reducing the likelihood of injuries or vehicle damage. In some cases, it's possible for City Safety to deliver this result. However, there are situations where a collision cannot be avoided due to a variety of conditions, including vehicle speed, environmental conditions, etc. When a collision is unavoidable, City Safety is designed to help reduce the force of the collision so that the occupants of the vehicle in front suffer a less serious impact, increasing the likelihood that injuries such as whiplash will be avoided. For the Volvo vehicle, the collision can be both a physically harmful and an emotionally unpleasant experience for the driver and occupants. By reducing the speed prior to the impact, City Safety helps to reduce the risk of injury for the occupants in the Volvo vehicle as well. In some cases, it can dramatically reduce the risk of injury if the XC60 manages to stop completely before the collision. Even at low speeds, rear-impact collisions can result in significant repair and insurance costs. City Safety can help reduce repair time for the owner and insurance company. Further, when City Safety is paired with the optional Collision Warning with Auto Brake technology, the result is an XC60 that offers auto-braking functions at all speeds. Source: Volvo Cars of Canada
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