Volvo Cars - Safety

Safety

Volvo cars have long been marketed and stressed their historic reputation for solidity and reliability. Prior to strong government safety regulation Volvo had been in the forefront of safety engineering.

In 1944, laminated glass was introduced in the PV model. In 1958, Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin invented and patented the modern 3-Point Safety Belt, which became standard on all Volvo cars in 1959, and then made this design patent open in the interest of safety and made it available to other car manufacturers for free. Additionally, Volvo developed the first rear-facing child seat in 1964 and introduced its own booster seat in 1978.

The 960 introduced the first three-point seat belt for the middle of the rear seat and a child safety cushion integrated in the middle armrest. Also in 1991 it introduced the Side Impact Protection System (SIPS) on the 940/960 and 850 models, which channelled the force of a side impact away from the doors and into the safety cage.

To add to its SIPS, in 1995 Volvo was the first to introduce side airbags and installed them as standard equipment needed in all models in 1996. At the start of the 1995 model year, side impact protection airbags were standard on high trim-level Volvo 850s, and optional on other 850s. By the middle of the production year, they were standard on all 850s. In Model Year 1996, SIPS airbags became standard on all Volvo models.

In 1998 Volvo also developed and was the first to install a head-protecting airbag, which was made standard in all new models as well as some existing models. The head-protecting airbag was not available on the 1996 C70 since the initial design deployed the airbag from the roof and the C70, being a convertible, could not accommodate such an airbag. A later version of the C70 featured a head-protecting airbag deploying upwards from the door, avoiding this problem. It has been stated by many testing authorities that side head protecting curtain airbags can reduce the risk of death in a side impact by up to 40% and brain injury by up to 55%, as well as protecting during a rollover.

In 1998, Volvo introduced its Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), a safety device to prevent injury to front seat users during collisions. In 2004, Volvo introduced the BLIS system, which detects vehicles entering the Volvo's blind spot with a side-view-mirror-mounted sensor, and alerts the driver with a light. That year also saw Volvos sold in all markets equipped with side-marker lights and daytime-running lights. Much of Volvo's safety technology now also goes into other Ford vehicles. In 2005 Volvo presented the second generation of Volvo C70, it comes with extra stiff door-mounted inflatable side curtains (the first of its kind in a convertible).

In 2006 Volvo's Personal Car Communicator (PCC) remote control has been launched as an optional feature with the all-new Volvo S80. Before a driver enters their car, he or she can review the security level and know whether they have set the alarm and if the car is locked. Additionally, a heartbeat sensor warns if someone is hiding inside the car. The S80 is also the first Volvo model to feature Adaptive cruise control (ACC) with Collision Warning and Brake Support (CWBS).

Since 2004 all Volvo models except for the coupes (C70 and C30) are available with an all-wheel drive system developed by Haldex Traction of Sweden.

Even though Volvo Car Corp has been owned by the Ford Motor Company, the safety systems of Volvo are still standard on all Volvo vehicles. Volvo has patented all their safety innovations, including SIPS, WHIPS, ROPS, DSTC, IC, and body structures. Some of these systems were fitted to other Ford vehicles in forms similar to those of Volvo systems, only because Volvo has licenced the FOMOCO and other PAG members to utilize these features.

A 2005 FOLKSAM report puts the 740/940 (from 1982 on) in the 15% better than average category, the second from the top category. The Volvo 745 was also recalled due to that the front seatbelts mounts could break in a collision.

In 2005, when the American non-profit, non-governmental Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released its first annual Top Safety Picks vehicles list, none of Volvo's offered vehicles in the U.S. was included on the list. According to Russ Rader, a spokesman for IIHS, Volvo lagged behind its competitors. Dan Johnston, a Volvo spokesman, denied that the company's vehicles are any less safe than the Institute's top-rated vehicles, adding that

"It's just a philosophy on safety that is different from building cars to pass these kinds of tests."

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), Volvo's S80 became one of 2009 Top Safety Picks Award winner, but Volvo's S40 and S60 (both 2005–09 models with standard side airbags) failed to attain the highest rating in their side impact test. Volvo's C30 has not yet been tested by IIHS, but received 5 star safety in EuroNCAP.

However, according to the IIHS, in recent years Volvo Cars have still managed to maintain their high class safety ratings as seen in test results. The Volvo XC90, S80 and C70 all score top scores in these rated crash tests.

In 2008 a French court found Volvo partially responsible for causing the death of two children and serious injuries of one in Wasselonne on June 17, 1999, when the brakes of a 1996 Volvo 850 failed. The court subjected Volvo to a 200,000 Euro fine.