New Collision Avoidance System Debuts

City Safety, a low-speed collision-avoidance technology, becomes available this month on the new 2010 Volvo XC60, a crossover utility vehicle that now will be able to brake itself to avoid a fender-bender. The system uses a windshield-mounted laser that sends infrared rays out as far as 18 feet ahead of the vehicle. The rays are reflected back from objects ahead of the car, and a computer analyzes them and will automatically brake the vehicle if it concludes a collision is imminent. "The system is designed to prevent the low-speed collisions often seen during bumper-to-bumper conditions when a driver fails to notice that the car ahead has slowed down or stopped." Almost 75% of all collisions occur at speeds below 19 miles per hour. "In half of those accidents, a driver never hits his or her brake pedal, Volvo research shows. City Safety can intervene and prevent a collision when a vehicle is traveling at 9 mph or less. At speeds between 10 and 19 mph, the impact of a collision will be mitigated." Read more.