Volvo models score well in safety tests

The IIHS recently introduced a new test programme that rates the performance of front crash prevention systems. This is a major development for crash tests in general, as prevention systems are playing an ever-increasing role in vehicle safety – and Volvo is ahead of the game.

Both the Volvo S60 and XC60 received the highest possible rating of ‘Superior’ and Volvo’s City Safety system is the only standard-specification low-speed crash prevention system in the test, which included 74 vehicles.

The IIHS crash prevention evaluation will be incorporated into the institute’s 2014 Top Safety Pick+ rating. It includes two tests addressing front-to-rear crashes, one at 20 km/h (12 mph) and the other at 40 km/h (25 mph), and additional point is given to vehicles with Forward Collision Warning.

The Volvo S60 and XC60 equipped with City Safety and Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake and Pedestrian Detection are among seven models that have received a Superior rating in the new test.

Volvo’s low-speed City Safety system is standard in all new Volvo models around the world. Most new Volvos are also available with state-of-the-art technologies that detect, warn and brake automatically for rear other vehicles as well as pedestrians and cyclists.

So far, Volvo Cars has sold more than one million cars equipped with systems for automatic braking – and the company will continue this pioneering work in the near future by making detection systems work also in darkness for pedestrians and by introducing collision mitigation for animals.

Over the years the risk of being injured in a Volvo has been reduced continuously and substantially. By introducing new preventive and protective systems, they keep moving towards their aim that by 2020 no one should be injured or killed in a new Volvo.

Their long-term vision is that cars should not crash.