Volvo standardises anti-collision system

Volvo will unveil ‘the most comprehensive and technologically sophisticated standard safety package available in the automotive industry’ next month when it launches its all-new XC90 all-wheel drive SUV. The standard safety package will include an auto brake at intersection capability and run-off road protection. The auto brake at intersection function automatically applies the brakes if the driver turns in front of an oncoming car. On-board systems detect a potential crash and automatically apply the br
July 23, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

609 Volvo will unveil ‘the most comprehensive and technologically sophisticated standard safety package available in the automotive industry’ next month when it launches its all-new XC90 all-wheel drive SUV. The standard safety package will include an auto brake at intersection capability and run-off road protection.

The auto brake at intersection function automatically applies the brakes if the driver turns in front of an oncoming car. On-board systems detect a potential crash and automatically apply the brakes to avoid a collision or mitigate the consequences.

The City Safety crash prevention system is carried over with a camera upgrade and now covers vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians in front of the car.

Another ‘world first’ is the Safe Positioning run-off road protection system. Volvo says run-off accidents (caused by driver distraction, fatigue or poor weather conditions) account for half of US traffic fatalities and single-vehicle accidents account for a third of fatal and severe injury crashes in Sweden.

To avoid run-offs, the XC90’s Lane Keeping Aid applies extra steering torque if the car is about to leave the lane unintentionally while Driver Alert Control detects and warns of tired or inattentive drivers. The Safe Positioning system detects the vehicle running off the road and tightens the front safety belts to restrain the occupants while an energy-absorbing system between the seat and seat frame helps prevent spine injuries.
 
Both the safety belt tightening and brake application functions are activated if the rearward facing radars detects an imminent rear-end impact, and the lights start flashing to warn the driver behind.

Also standard is a new generation of Roll Stability Control which calculates the risk of a rollover and will automatically reduce engine torque and apply braking force to one or more wheels to counteract any rollover tendency. If a rollover is inevitable, the system activates inflatable curtains to protect the occupants.

Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • April 5, 2017
    Autonomous vehicles will not prevent half of real-world crashes
    Alan Thomas of CAVT looks at the reality behind the safety claims fuelling the drive towards autonomous vehicles
    Read More
  • January 31, 2012
    Intersection collision avoidance system trial
    Although much of the emphasis of research into intersection management has tended to concentrate on the needs of urban locations, there remain specific issues pertaining to rural intersections which need to be addressed. Here, Rebecca Szymkowski and Greg Helgeson, Wisconsin DOT, Todd Szymkowski, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Craig Shankwitz and Arvind Menon, University of Minnesota detail progress on an intersection collision avoidance system for more remote locations.
    Read More
  • February 1, 2012
    Advanced in-vehicle user interface - future developments
    Dave McNamara and Craig Simonds, Autotechinsider LLC, look at human-machine interface development out to 2015. The US auto industry is going through the worst crisis it has faced since the Great Depression. But it has embraced technologies that will produce the best-possible driving experience for the public. Ford was the first OEM to announce in-car internet radio and SYNC, its signature-branded User Interface (UI), is held up as the shining example of change embracement.
    Read More
  • May 30, 2018
    Uber ‘disabled braking system’ in fatal crash
    Uber had disabled the emergency braking function of the Volvo XC90 which killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona in March. A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says the car was “operating with a self-driving system in computer control mode” when it struck 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg, who was pushing a bicycle across the road. According to the NTSB report, Uber said “emergency braking manoeuvres are not enabled while the vehicle is under computer control, to reduce the
    Read More

Highlighted Content