Volvo reveals safety kit on 2015 XC90 SUV

By John Mahoney

Motor Industry

22 July 2014 10:34

Volvo claims the all-new XC90 that will be revealed in late August will be one of the safest cars money can buy thanks to pioneering new safety technology.

So far the Swedish carmaker has teased us with designer sketches of how the seven-seat crossover will look, told us how it will be offered with a 395bhp plug-in hybrid that emits just 60g/km of CO2 and released official pictures of the production XC90’s interior.

Now it’s time for the Volvo publicity machine to tell us about the novel new safety tech that will protect us from ourselves and this includes two claimed world firsts.

Statistics show in markets like the US half of all road fatalities are caused by vehicles leaving the road and crashing into the scenery. This has prompted Volvo to create ‘Safe Positioning’ that detects when it thinks the XC90 has left the road unintentionally. Once sensors indicate this is the case all seven belts are tensioned to hold occupants in position. If an impact does then occur, specially designed energy-absorbing seats have been designed to reduce vertical forces by up to one third reducing the severity of spinal injuries.

‘Safe Positioning’ also works alongside a Lane Keeping Aid that actively steers the car to keep it in a lane when it feels the car drifting over. Volvo’s Driver Alert Control, meanwhile, should detect those tired drivers before that happens with satnav indicating a safe place to rest.

We all know the scenario. You wait patiently at a set of lights to turn right. See what you think is a gap and go for it. Unfortunately, a Transit five cars back has completely obscured a fast moving car driving up the inside, potentially causing a head-on impact. The XC90 seeks to avoid that, automatically braking the XC90 as soon as it detects the oncoming car avoiding, or at least mitigating, the impact.

Volvo’s XC90 will also come with a system that employs rear radars to detect if a rear impact is imminent, tightening belts and flashing the rear brake lights to warn the unobservant driver.

As well as all the safety equipment Volvo has also joined the likes of Nissan and BMW by introducing a 360-degree parking aid. Using four concealed fish-eye cameras the XC90 can create a bird’s-eye view of the car park space you’re about to park in.

If you’re still nervous about easing the large SUV into a space you can always rely on the twelve ultrasonic sensors to do the job for you.

Stay tuned to CAR Online to see the very first official pictures of the long-awaited, all-new, second-generation, seven-seat, Volvo XC90.

By John Mahoney