SAFETY FIRSTS

In 1927, when Volvo founders Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson drew plans for their first motorcar, they believed that good design must include the utmost consideration for safety. Their commitment to safety has endured, and has been embraced and expanded today in Gothenburg, Sweden, headquarters of Volvo Cars. Through the years, Volvo has designed safety features based on extensive research of real-world accidents.

In 1970, we formed the Volvo Accident Investigation Team to study accidents involving Volvos. Since then the team has researched more than 28,000 individual accidents, resulting in significant improvements in automobile safety design, many of which have since been adopted by other carmakers. We are proud of this tradition, and hope that our innovations continue to inspire higher standards of safety throughout the automobile industry.

 
Volvo Safety Milestones

•     1927 Safety glass windshields with automatic windshield wipers installed
•     1944 Steel cage created to help protect passenger compartment
•     1944 Laminated windshields installed 15 years before mandatory
•     1958 Three-point shoulder/lap seat belt patented by Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin
•     1959 Three-point shoulder/lap seat belts exclusively introduced in some models
•     1960 Padded instrument panel installed
•     1967 Three-point seat belts included in rear outboard seats
•     1970 Industry's first auto accident investigation team established
•     1973 Electric rear window defroster made standard on all models
•     1984 Anti-lock brakes (ABS) installed
•     1987 Three-point seat belts included in rear center seat
•     1991 Integrated booster cushion added for children 50-80 pounds and 46-54" tall
•     1992 Side impact structure installed five years before mandatory
•     1995 World's first side impact air bags introduced in 1995 models
•     2000 Volvo introduced the Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS)
•     2003 Worlds first SUV with Rollover Protection System (ROPS) and Roll Stability Control (RSC)

VOLVO SAFETY CENTER

 The Volvo Safety Center is uniquely Volvo, the only one of its kind within the car industry. It helps us stay at the forefront in the one race that really matters: the race to save lives by building safer cars. Highly advanced laboratory equipment, like our pivoting crash track, enable safety engineers to create and analyze front impacts, rear impacts, and rollovers. That's nearly every conceivable accident scenario along with every angle in-between. Since 1970, the Volvo Accident Investigation Team has traveled around the world to investigate over 28,000 accidents. We don't take our reputation for safety lightly and neither should you.

Volvo Crash Test Center

The $81 million dollar Volvo Safety Center is the most technologically advanced crash-test facility in the world.

Stockholm, Sweden; October 2000 -- "In our new crash safety laboratory, we will have capabilities far superior to those of the competitors. We can quite simply move the reality of the roads into our crash laboratory" said Stefan Nilsson, Director, Volvo Cars Safety Center.

There is no such thing as a typical accident. Real-world accidents do not always happen at a fixed speed or at a perfect 90 degrees. In an industry first, Volvo Cars new Safety Center takes real-world factors into account, enabling engineers to crash test cars moving at any speed up to 100 kph (62 mph) and at any angle, from full head-on to a 90-degree broadside collision.

Volvo Offset Crash Test

Frontal collisions, offset collisions, cars hitting another vehicle or object in the traffic environment are all tested using cars of different sizes. This advance in the field of safety is totally unique to Volvo. It is the big picture, the holistic approach, not individual details, that determines the safety with which you travel.
 
The Volvo Cars Safety Center, officially opened in March 2000, offers test capabilities far superior to those of the competitors. It includes:

• New equipment for advanced component testing.
• A supercomputer that crash tests non-existing cars
• The world's most advanced crash simulator.
• A unique crash laboratory with an advanced high-tech crash barrier.

With the help of a number of specially built rigs, studies are being conducted to discover what happens when parts of the human body collide with parts of the interior or exterior of a car.
 
The tests can be performed over and over, with a high degree of precision. Small changes in the design of a steering wheel, for example, can be made in order to determine its direct bearing on safety. The rigs also eliminate the need to arrange full-scale crash tests to settle questions concerning the safety of individual components.
 
 

PREVENTATIVE SAFETY

Simply put, avoiding accidents is better than having accidents. Much better. Preventative safety features like Dynamic Stability and Traction Control (DSTC) help you, the driver, avoid accidents by evading them. And nothing is safer for you than no accident at all. So every Volvo is equipped with a variety of innovative preventative safety features, many of which are, of course, uniquely Volvo, developed by Volvo safety engineers over years of research, design and testing, both in the laboratory and the real world.

Increased Visibility
One of the best ways to avoid accidents is for drivers to see and be seen clearly. That's why, when Volvo engineers and designer’s design Volvo's, they insist on large windows that help to reduce blind spots, automatic windshield wipers with intermittent speeds, electric rear window defrosters, innovative headlamps that produce more natural light, daytime running lights, side marker lights, and high-level brake lights. It's all an integral part of Volvo design. And that's a design that's easily recognized on roads all over the world.

Improved Handling
To ensure Volvo drivers maintain control of their vehicles at all times, we've developed smart systems that improve handling in demanding conditions. All Volvos are equipped with antilock brakes, but some models are also available with stability and traction control systems. These help prevent wheels from slipping and help drivers maintain control during unpredictable skids and roadway surprises.

Ergonomic Interiors
A driver must remain alert and focused at all times. Our preventative safety philosophy includes accessible controls, ergonomic seats, and advanced climate control systems that help you maintain a comfortable and refreshing environment, free from distractions. This also means you keep your eyes on the road and hands on the wheel, right where you need them to be at all times.

Volvo Innovations in Preventative Safety:

Dynamic Stability and Traction Control (DSTC) - gathers and performs analysis of driving data in real time and stabilizes the vehicle by braking or limiting engine power.
Antilock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Braking force Distribution (EBD) - automatically pumps and releases brakes to help maintain control during hard braking.
Roll Stability Control - helps prevent rollovers during extreme maneuvers.
 
Volvo Rollover Crash Test
  

 
PERSONAL SAFETY

There's more to automotive safety than avoiding accidents and reducing injuries. Volvo's holistic approach to safety extends to the personal safety of drivers and passengers not just in, but also around, your Volvo. To protect you and your property, we've developed extensive foolproof and redundant systems that help protect against vehicle theft, forcible entry, theft of personal property, and personal threat.

Volvo Innovations in Personal Safety

• Home Safe Lighting System - illuminates the interior and the area in front of and around your Volvo for 30 seconds after you remove its key from the ignition and pull the high beam lever.
• Theft-Proof Lock System - makes it impossible to start the car without the right key and deadlocks the doors if a window is broken when the system is armed.
• Volvo OnCall - integrates a GSM telephone with built-in
• GPS unit for direct communication with a Volvo OnCall Center in the event of an accident, emergency, breakdown, break-in or theft. Route guidance, traffic and travel information are also available.
• A central locking system - locks or unlocks all the doors with the touch of a button from the driver's seat or by remote control outside the vehicle.
• Advanced security and alarm system is activated when the vehicle is tampered with, or by remote control in threatening situations. 

The Volvo Whiplash Protection System
(WHIPS)
Reducing long-term neck and spinal injuries by more than 50 percent

First introduced in 1999, Volvo's WHIPS is still being thrust into the spotlight. A new survey from Volvo's traffic accident research team shows that WHIPS reduces short-term injuries by 33 percent and long-term injuries by 54 percent. However, Volvo is not alone in drawing this conclusion. Several independent surveys reveal major reductions in whiplash injuries thanks to WHIPS.

In Sweden, the Swedish Road Administration and Swedish Insurance Institute, Folksam, published findings of their survey and conclude that the number of whiplash incidents leading to serious injury would drop by 50 percent if all cars had the same system as that found in Volvo.

Recent studies in the United States also support these findings. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) compared seats in car models featuring the new head restraint with the seats fitted to previous model years. Volvo (with WHIPS) topped the average injury-reduction ratings with 49 percent. Volvo has been awarded the highest rating for headrest safety by the IIHS on every one of its models since 1995.

Seven out of ten car accidents resulting in personal injuries involve whiplash injuries. The IIHS has discovered that "the key to reducing injury risk in rear-end crashes is to keep the head and torso moving together." They further add that to effectively protect occupants' necks, a head restraint must be high enough to catch the head and close enough to catch it early in a crash.

As Volvo continues to lead the market in safety innovations, WHIPS has no doubt added to that success. WHIPS is offered standard on all Volvo vehicles.

A Note about WHIPS:
The WHIPS seat provides improved spinal support by virtue of its modified backrest characteristics and close proximity of the head restraint's position to the occupant's head. WHIPS utilizes a specially designed hinge mount that attaches the back rest to the seat bottom, which has a pre-determined rate of rearward movement in the event of certain types of rear impacts. The seatback also has a series of springs that allows the cushion to move slightly rearward upon impact, thereby helping to cradle the body within the seat. This, combined with high-mounted head restraints, help to limit the "whipping" motion of the head that often occurs during a rear-end impact.

 

Source: Volvo
 

 
 
IN-CAR CHILD SAFETY
 
VOLVO GUIDE TO IN-CAR CHILDCARE
Most parents do everything they can to keep their children safe from harm, but there can be danger even when traveling in the family car, caused by a lack of awareness about in-car child safety.

Supported by the company's comprehensive safety studies, Volvo has produced a handy guide to keep children safe while on the road. 'Children In Cars' is full of helpful tips and advice for anyone who travels with children*.

SIT UP, BELT UP
Six out of ten parents don't buckle their children in properly. They are unaware of how to fit the diagonal section of a seatbelt correctly (not too far out on the shoulder and never under the arm) and not sure how to fit a lap belt (across the tops of the legs, never across a child's stomach).

Using a standard seat belt provides 60% better protection than no restraint at all but using a forward facing child seat or booster cushion provides 80% better protection while a rearward facing child seat is 90% better.

FACE THE BACK FACTS
Quite simply, sitting facing the rear is the safest way to travel for any of us, but especially for children. Babies and children are fragile passengers as their heads are big and heavy in relation to the rest of the body (25% of total weight), and have thinner skulls, and underdeveloped necks, pelvis and vertebrae compared to adults.

In the event of an impact using a rearward facing child seat, the whole of the child's back takes the impact, rather than its much more vulnerable neck. There is a five times greater risk of fatality or serious injury for children in forward-facing seats.

Babies and toddlers should be rearward facing up until at least the age of three and preferably longer. Currently, only 1 in 4 three year olds use rearward facing seats. Rearward facing seats should be only be used in the front passenger seat if the car has no, or a disabled, passenger airbag.

GETTING BETTER
The good news is that from 1976 to 2000, there has been a marked improvement in child car safety. In Sweden, the use of seat belts and car seats, particularly rearward facing child seats has risen from 25% to almost 100%. As a result, occurrences of injuries of Maximal Abbreviated Injury Scale scoring 2 or above (on a scale of 1 to 6, where 6 is most severe) are now a fifth of what they were 20 years ago.

*All statistics and information taken from 'Children in Cars, A Safety Guide', written and published by Volvo Car Corporation and based on comprehensive, ongoing research by Volvo's Traffic Accident Research Team and a variety of Swedish academic and governmental studies.

Sweden -- The Place Where Dummies Get Pregnant!

VOLVO'S PREGNANT CRASH TEST DUMMY

Volvo's award-winning Safety Center in Sweden now has the world's first pregnant crash test dummy model so its experts can learn more about the impacts of the seat belt and airbag on a mother and unborn baby in car accidents.

Volvo has developed the computerized model as part of its constant focus to improve protection for all occupants in its cars - even the unborn ones. The model represents a woman - named 'Linda' - at a late stage of her pregnancy, when the unborn baby is at greatest risk in an accident.

Simulated front-end impact tests are being used to study in great detail how the seat belt moves and its combined influence with the airbag on the uterus, placenta and fetus, as well as how the fetus moves in relation to the mother's body.

The model will also be used to test new seat belt designs and other safety systems.

"Currently, the seat belt is the best form of protection for pregnant women and their babies, but it's crucial to wear it in the right way. It should fit close to the body, go between the breasts and as low as possible over the hips. The lap section of the belt shouldn't be allowed to ride up in front of the tummy, as that could harm the baby," says Laura Thackray, a Biomechanical Engineer at Volvo's Safety Center in Gothenburg, Sweden.

"I'm certain that there's room for further development of the three-point belt, to make it more comfortable and to provide optimized protection," adds Laura.

In an accident, the belt restrains both the pregnant woman's thorax and pelvis, but her abdomen is free to move in the direction determined by the particular forces arising from the impact.

Because the fetus is floating inside the womb, the more likely potential injury is the placenta becoming either partially or completely detached, which means that the baby cannot get enough oxygen. The rarer scenario is for the baby to sustain physical injury from impacting with the mother's pelvic bones or the car's interior.

"While the uterus is relatively elastic and can therefore change shape, we think the placenta may become detached because it is not equally resilient to the forces sustained during an accident," Laura Thackray explains. "We think so, but we don't know yet. That's why this model is so important. We have to find out more to be able to protect the fetus in the best possible way."

 

   
Volvo’s are Naturally Protective!

Volvo has proved its mettle yet again! Volvo's XC90 SUV, C70 Convertible, and S80 Sedan have all earned IIHS's top honors for vehicle safety in front, side, and rear impact crash protection. Each model presented unique challenges towards achieving top ratings. Volvo's holistic 'Circle of Development' approach to safety starts from real world accident research, moving through to engineering, testing, manufacturing and coming back to real world accident research. Volvo safety is about Protective and Preventive safety - to help people during one of their worst life experiences: an automobile accident. While each vehicle achieved top safety acknowledgements for IIHS's standard bevy of crash testing, Volvo went even further to help offer protection that might be needed in real world situations. Acing crash test criteria is but one way to protect occupants. At Volvo, there is the belief that standard tests help to predict vehicle behavior but real world accident research adds another layer of safety engineering to those in and around Volvo cars. Visit Dalzell’s today, and experience a Volvo. Discover the feeling of confidence that comes from riding in one of the safest cars in the world.

Volvo is synonymous with safety. Enjoy a bit of humor while watching the Volvo crash test dummy "Clive" narrate the safety features of Volvo vehicles. Please note: only crash test dummies were harmed in the making of this video.

Volvo - Clive Alive