Skip to main content

Safety system

Carmaker Volvo is well known for the safety features it fits to its vehicles. However, one of the latest failed spectacularly at a recent demonstration in front of the motoring press. The demonstration was supposed to show how the automatic braking system ensures that the new Volvo models will be able to reduce the risk of accidents. The car was driven at the rear of a truck and was supposed to come to an emergency stop but instead ploughed straight into the vehicle, resulting in wry smirks amongst the asse
February 22, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Carmaker Volvo is well known for the safety features it fits to its vehicles. However, one of the latest failed spectacularly at a recent demonstration in front of the motoring press. The demonstration was supposed to show how the automatic braking system ensures that the new Volvo models will be able to reduce the risk of accidents. The car was driven at the rear of a truck and was supposed to come to an emergency stop but instead ploughed straight into the vehicle, resulting in wry smirks amongst the assembled press. The fault was blamed on a flat battery that foiled the vehicle's sophisticated electronics. The car, Volvo's new S60 model, is now available. Whether or not new owners will find the automatic braking system more reliable, remains to be seen.

Related Content

  • WiM eases bridge structural health worries
    March 22, 2024
    Concerns about ageing road bridges are leading road authorities to consider the case for using weigh-in-motion - WiM - solutions to monitor health of such infrastructure, writes Adam Hill.
  • WiM eases bridge health worries
    July 31, 2024
    Ageing road bridges are leading road authorities to consider the case for using weigh-in-motion - WiM - solutions to monitor the health of such infrastructure, writes Adam Hill.
  • Looking into the future of construction with Topcon
    January 8, 2024
    Topcon Positioning’s Yassir Shanshal, senior vice president of Global Quality, Service and Kris Cowles, executive vice president & CIO spoke with Mike Woof of World Highways on Topcon’s view for the future.
  • Young motorcycle riders at most risk in Europe
    January 20, 2017
    Young powered two wheelers are most at risk of crashing. That is the key finding of a recent report into powered two wheeler crashes in Europe. The analysis of 9,186 crashes where a motorcyclist was severely injured, shows that specifically young, male riders face a significant risk to become a road traffic victim. The European Commission recently published the ‘Study on serious road traffic injuries in the EU’ to collate data that could in the future prevent serious road traffic injuries. The aim was to