‘City Safety’ – fitted to Volvo XC60, S60 sedan and V60 wagon in Australia – has been credited with cutting low speed crashes involving Volvos by more than 25 per cent according to North American research.
The Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) made the findings by comparing accident insurance claims for 2009 and 2010. The research showed while drivers of Volvos fitted with City Safety lodged claims for large amounts with the same frequency as other drivers, their claims for smaller amounts (typical low-speed crashes) were 27 per cent lower than drivers of equivalent other vehicles.
“Although it may seem counterintuitive, higher payouts for property damage liability are a sign that City Safety works,” explained Matthew Moore, HLDU Vice President and director of the study. “These are very large effects (and) the pattern of results strongly indicates that City Safety is preventing low-speed crashes and reducing insurance costs.”
Volvo’s ‘City Safety’ system works to prevent rear-end collisions in the slow-moving, stop-start traffic like many of us encounter morning and night during our week-day commutes. ‘City Safety’ operates at speeds up to 30km/h and automatically applies the Volvo’s brakes if the driver doesn’t react appropriately when the car in front slows or stops.
If the speed difference between you and the car in front is lees than 15km/h, the Volvo will stop altogether and avoid the accident. Above 15km/h, the impact speed is reduced and resultant damage minimized.
