Volvo engineers always thought its City Safety low-speed crash avoidance system would result in fewer collisions. Now there’s proof. A newly published analysis from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) indicates that Volvo XC60s get into fewer low-speed crashes than comparable vehicles. The analysis pointed to Volvo’s City Safety technology, a standard feature on all XC60s, as the principal reason.
HLDI examined claim frequency under property damage liability, bodily injury liability and collisions. Their data concluded frequency rates in all three of these areas for the XC60 were lower than all other midsize luxury SUVs. Here are the specifics:
- Claims under property damage liability coverage were filed 27 percent less often for the XC60 than other midsize luxury SUVs
- Claim frequencies for injuries for the XC60 were filed about half as often compared to other midsize luxury SUVs
- Collision claim frequencies for the XC60 were 22 percent lower than all other midsize luxury SUVs
“This is our first real-world look at an advanced crash-avoidance technology, and the findings are encouraging,” says Adrian Lund, president of HLDI and IIHS. “City Safety is helping XC60 drivers avoid the kinds of front-to-rear low-speed crashes that frequently happen on congested roads.”
City Safety uses a laser sensor built into the windshield to detect impending crash scenarios. Between 2 and 19 mph, the car automatically brakes if the driver does not respond in time when the car in front slows down or stops, or if the driver is driving too fast toward a stationary object. If the relative speed difference between the two vehicles is fewer than 9 mph, the collision can be entirely avoided. If the speed difference is between 9 and 19 mph, the speed at impact is reduced by about one-half. IIHS has estimated that current crash avoidance features have the potential to prevent or mitigate as many as 1.9 million crashes each year, and current users have stated the systems help them to be safer drivers.
“It is great to see validation from HLDI and IIHS of the safety systems that we at Volvo are continually developing,” says Thomas Broberg, Volvo Car Corporation’s senior safety expert. “This is another step toward achieving our Vision 2020 of eliminating serious injuries and fatalities by the year 2020, and an even larger step towards a crash-free future.”