Traffic Stopper

MANILA, Philippines - They may not happen very often, but when they do, you’re guaranteed they will be special. Whether it’s the creative choice of menu, the color coordinated khaki and white event uniforms of the staff or the battery of security guards dressed in Swedish-orange reflective vests to walk you safely to and from the car park, Volvo has always managed to leave a lasting impression with each new launch. But this time, they wanted to go one step further. They wanted to stop traffic. Literally.

No, not in the annoying wang wang get-out-of-my-way-or-my-rent-a-cop-up-ahead-will-kick-your-fender-type of stopping traffic, but with the introduction of the all-new XC60 with the world’s first crash mitigation system that can detect the behavior of the vehicle up ahead and bring the car to a complete stop without driver intervention.

They call it City Safe, and provided the vehicle is traveling 30km/h or below, the system is guaranteed to avoid or severely reduce the effects of an accident. Best part is, it comes standard on every XC60.

According to Volvo’s accident research, 75% of rear end collisions occur at speeds under 30 km/h. This prompted them to develop a system that uses infrared sensors that continuously monitor the vehicles’ environment, as well as that of the car up ahead, and apply the brakes automatically. Think of it as bruise control.

If the system believes that the car is “threatened” and the driver is responding inadequately or not at all (read: Texting) the system takes over, by hitting the brakes and preparing to fire the explosives in the airbags, saving valuable fractions of a second that can make the difference between minor injury and even death. Similar systems have appeared in various forms on other cars, but Volvo is the first to install City Safe as standard equipment in a vehicle.

The system is not intended to be some type of auto pilot, of course, but rather an added safety feature to kick in during those odd times when human reflexes are not quick enough. It is also limited to seeing cars or similar sized objects, which basically means don’t try and use this as some kind of party trick to show off to your friends using your kids as the target.

The XC60 also features adaptive cruise control, which is a system that can monitor the variable speeds of the car in front and maintain a safe gap. This system has already appeared in several different luxury cars, including the S80, but used to cut off below 30 km/h when cruise control is automatically disabled. When used in conjunction with City Safe, however, the system is capable of automatically switching between one to the other seamlessly, allowing the car to come to a full stop from speeds even over 100 km/h.

For those who still had trouble grasping the concept, Viking Cars, the official Volvo dealer in the country, set up a controlled area to demonstrate the technology. They asked journalists to drive the XC60 up to 20km/h and head straight for an inflatable car. Sure enough, City Safe delivered as advertised. It is quite a violent stop, so Volvo still insists you wear your safety belts.

But don’t take my word for it, schedule a test drive at the Volvo dealership on Pasong Tamo Extension and try it out for yourself. Trust me, opportunities to crash a new European car on a test drive don’t come along everyday, so take advantage of it while inflatable cars last. And, if you’re wondering whether or not the all-new XC60 goes as well as it stops, then stay tuned for The Philippine STAR’s advanced test drive and full review coming soon.

Priced at an extremely competitive 3.295 million for the diesel model and 3.695 million for the 281 horsepower T6, the XC60 may not be able to stop the showroom traffic.