Volvo’s 2011 model S60 will debut in 2010 spring. It has been tagged as Sweden’s BMW3-series due to its design and features. In fact, the new S60 has been set to give all the big-boys- BMW 3-series, Audi A4, Mercedes C-class a run for their money. Now it is also confirmed that The 2011 Volvo S60 will feature the new collision warning system technology.

Volvo has confirmed the testing of its new Collision Warning system including Full Auto Brake mechanism and Pedestrian Detection system in Copenhagen. Thomas Broberg, the Senior Safety Advisor of Volvo Cars stated that “Factors like traffic nature, road and climatic conditions must be taken into account for designing the final system. We can also use the 500,000 kilometers of real-life data collected from these traffic tests to perform advanced computer simulations.”  The new safety features in Collision Warning system with Full Auto Brake and Pedestrian-Detection represent the gen-next Volvo Cars. The technology detects risky situations and helps the driver to mitigate or avoid accidents by providing careful support in the decision-making process.

The new Collision Warning system consists of a dual-mode radar unit in S60′s grille, a camera at the back of the inside rear-view mirror & a central control unit. The radar & camera constantly monitor the road in front. The radar detects objects and measures its distance to them. The camera determines the nature of objects. In an emergency, the driver is first alarmed by an audible warning along with a flashing light in the head-up display of the windscreen. The visual warning has been designed to appear like braking lights. In case the driver does not react quickly to the warning and the system assesses an imminent collision, the car is braked with full braking power.

Thomas Broberg explained that the aim is to help the driver avoid massive collisions with pedestrians speeding below 25-km/h. If the car is travelling fast, the aim is to reduce the impact as much as possible. The collision force can be reduced by about 75 percent in most cases. Considering the huge number of pedestrian fatalities that occur, if the fatality risk can be lowered by at least 20 percent, the new function can make a substantial difference. In certain situations a high 85 percent of fatality reduction can be achieved. He also added that “This technology helps us to take an important step towards the long-term vision of making cars that do not crash. Our 2020 vision is that no one should be killed or badly injured in a Volvo.”