bob_golfen's avatar
Author:
Bob Golfen
Login For More
Rate this article:
  • 0/5 Stars
SPEEDtv.com Store
Legendary Race Cars, by Basem Wasef
Through vivid, human detail, writer and photographer Basem Wasef brings to life more than two dozen racing legends.
Our Price: $35.00
Visit Button
Buy Button
Man-Made Thunder
The book examines the sport of stock car racing through the eyes and ears of the men behind the wheel and the wrenches.
Our Price: $49.00
Visit Button
Buy Button
Unisex Sandwich Cap
Unisex Velcro back hat with SPEED logo on front. PINKS logo embroidered on left and PAO logo on right. One size fits all.
Our Price: $24.95
Visit Button
Buy Button
Speedway T-shirt
Men's 6 oz. 100% Cotton Jersey Short Sleeve Tee. SPEED logo imprinted on the front center chest.
Our Price: $24.99
Visit Button
Buy Button
Ferrari Red Classic Hat
100% cotton twill. Ferrari shield embroidered on front, piping on the peak and Ferrari logo embroidered on back strap adjuster.
Our Price: $30.00 ($27.00 Member)
Visit Button
Buy Button
Footer Bg
  • Zoom More Photos Button
  • Camera Icon
DRIVEN: Volvo SUV Averts Distracted-Driver Crashes
Written by: Bob Golfen   
06/29/2009
Phoenix, AZ
 
So there you are, creeping along in rush-hour freeway traffic once again, bored and disengaged.

Volvo's first compact crossover comes loaded with luxury and technology features. (Photo: Volvo) » More Photos
You glance over at the Honda in the next lane and … whoa, that cute girl’s giving you a look. A friendly look.

You put on your most-suave expression and flirt back. Just then, the sedan in front hits its brakes. But you’re too busy to notice.

Wham!

Although the speed was only about 15 mph, the crunch causes extensive damage, and you’re stuck on the side of the road exchanging information with a grumpy stranger and thinking about your insurance rates. Meanwhile, the cutie in the next lane is long gone.

XC60 will stop before it rear-ends the car ahead, if you're too distracted to notice. (Photo: Volvo) » More Photos
Volvo, the king of safety systems designed to save lives, now offers a piece of technology to avoid the most prevalent result of distracted driving: the low-speed rear-end crash.

These common incidents might not cause injuries or deaths, but they are costly, embarrassing, time consuming and, as illustrated here, possibly hurtful to your social life.

Volvo’s new compact SUV, the XC60, is the first model to include City Safety. The system is designed to sense an impending crash and, if the driver fails to take action, will slam on the brakes all by itself.

It only operates at speeds under 20 miles per hour, but surveys show that 75 percent of all crashes occur at less than that speed, according to Volvo. And mostly, they are caused by distracted drivers.

The system uses a laser sensor at the top of the windshield to monitor traffic ahead, and it can
detect vehicles and other large objects up to 18 feet down the road. The system also interacts with the computer that controls the airbags and seat-belt load limiters to suit the severity of an impending collision. Which, hopefully, City Safety will manage to avoid.

I first had a chance to try this out during a demonstration from Volvo folks, who had me drive toward a barrier set up in a parking lot. Although my right foot was twitching to hit the brake pedal, I managed to relax and let the XC60 stop by itself.

I was kind of amazed at how well this worked. Later at home, with my son in the XC60, we headed toward the back bumper of his old BMW parked at the curb. Fortunately, it worked perfectly. The only casualty was my son’s near heart attack as we closed on his precious little car.


Page 1 of 3
Next Page »
1 2 3 >
View All Comments