Volvo announce a car that doesn't crash

Some of us have never had to go home and tell a family member that we had a little accident on the way home from the shops and that their precious little motor was a little worse for wear.

For those of us that have never had such an experience, you’re assured there’s nothing worse. No amount of the usual “it wasn’t my fault” or “They just came out of nowhere” can fix it, unless you have the insurance details to prove it.

Well perhaps that can all be a thing of the past. Good old trusty Volvo (my dear old dad had one while I was growing up) has only gone and invented a car that stops you from crashing. Sort of.

Volvo said that if the relative speed difference between two vehicles was below 10mph the system can help avoid a collision entirely.

Between 10mph and 20mph, the focus is on reducing speed as much as possible before impact. At higher speeds, including on motorways, a separate "adaptive cruise control" system keeps the car safe from traffic in front by braking and accelerating when necessary.

Volvo did say that it doesn’t take care of everything for you. According to the DailyMail, a Volvo spokesperson said

"It is important to stress that CitySafety does not relieve the driver of the responsibility from maintaining a safe distance."

Still that’s better than nothing right ? Right, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

The only thing is, it’s not exactly a gift. The CitySafety system comes as standard in the XC60 available from £25,000.

Alright, so now you know how much it’ll set you back, and what it claims to do ; you want to know how it works, right ? Right. It’s a pretty simple idea, really.

You’ve got a laser sensor built into the windscreen that reacts to traffic in front the car that is either stationary or moving in the same direction. It scans up to six yards ahead and, sensing the difference in speed between it and a vehicle in front, it makes 50 calculations a second to determine the braking force needed to avoid crashing. If the driver fails to slow down, the system brakes automatically and disables the accelerator. Easy peasy, right ?

Volvo claim that this nifty contraption can cut the number of rear end collisions in half. The XC60 is available from November so watch this space.

Read more on the DailyMail.