Volvo wants the 2018 XC60 SUV to be one of the safest cars on the road when it makes its debut at the Geneva auto show in March. It comes with three new (or updated) features that will fall under the Swedish brand’s City Safety umbrella, including steering support, oncoming lane mitigation and updates to its blind-spot warning system.
“We have been working with collision avoidance systems for many years and we can see how effective they are. In Sweden alone, we have seen a decline of around 45 percent (in Volvos with the third-generation safety systems) in rear-end frontal crashes thanks to our collision warning with autobrake system. With the XC60, we are determined to take the next step in reducing avoidable collisions with the addition of steering support and assistance systems,” said Malin Ekholm, senior director, Volvo Cars’ Safety Centre.
Steering support reacts when automatic braking alone won’t save you from a crash. It watches for pedestrians, cars and animals at speeds between 31 and 62 mph.
Oncoming lane mitigation alerts the driver if he or she is drifting into an oncoming lane; if the driver doesn’t react, the XC60 will take over the steering wheel, bringing the car back into the proper lane. That system works from 37 to 87 mph.
Finally, the blind-spot warning system now includes a steering-assist function that will attempt to correct you when you drift our of your lane accidentally or try to change lanes on purpose while another car is approaching from the neighboring lane.
“We have all of the benefits of the safety technology we introduced in our larger 90 Series cars in the new XC60. This is fully in line with our strategic approach to develop automotive safety systems based on real-life, real-road safety. Our vision is that no one will be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car by the year 2020,” added Ekholm.
The XC60 gets the rest of Volvo’s safety systems, too, including large animal detection, run-off road mitigation and the semi-autonomous Pilot Assist we loved in the bigger XC90.
We’ll get a better picture of the car and its safety systems March 7 or 8, which are the press preview days for the show. Check out all of the auto show news at our dedicated Geneva auto show page.
