AskPatty had the opportunity last week to experience the so-new-you-can't-have-one-yet XC60 crossover in Volvo's "From Sweden with Lov Tour" at one of its stops at our local Volvo dealership in Calabasas, California. What an amazing car! It's not just beautiful, though; it's full of the cutting-edge safety features for which Volvo is known, including a new technology called "City Safety" which is so amazing it will actually STOP THE CAR for you!
Volvo has dedicated its entire automaking existence on building amazing safety into its beautiful vehicles. Did you know that the "Volvo Saved My Life club" has more than 100,000 members? Here's another interesting tidbit: Did you know that it was Nils Bohlin, a Volvo engineer, who invented a particular type of three-point seat belt which became standard equipment on Volvos in 1958? What's even more cool, is that Volvo shared his patented safety technology with all automakers so that all drivers could benefit from the additional safety that has since become standard equipment in all cars sold these days! Volvo estimated the three-point seatbelt technology had saved more than a million lives in its first 25 years of use!
Volvo's Love Tour is being presented by product specialists Celesta Davis and Jason Megalizzi, who are visiting a total of 50 dealerships along the West Coast. The team is transporting three XC60 crossover vehicles as well as interactive multimedia exhibits, to give consumers first-hand demonstrations of the Volvo that stops itself using City Safety, the world's first standard automatic braking system.
What is City Safety? It's an amazing collision detection system which uses laser-based technology in the upper windshield to calculate the distance and speed of the car immediately ahead, and then apply the brakes if the system detects that a crash is imminent. You can watch a demonstration of the system in this YouTube video.
According to Volvo, up to 75% of collisions occur at speeds between 2 and 18 mph; City Safety works as a supplemental aid to the driver to prevent or reduce the consequences of such collisions in low-speed traffic.
I admit, it feels a little unnatural to drive up to pylons in the demonstrations without a foot on the brakes, but it's an amazing experience to realize afterwards that the car has actually stopped itself. Think about all those times you might have turned your head momentarily to attend to a child's needs in the backseat, and imagine how important such technology would be in rush-hour traffic, or even in as simple a situation as school carline dropoffs when you can easily be distracted from the car immediately in front of you!
The first 25 guests at each Lov Tour event receive an amazingly cool car kit packed full of safety essentials like self-powered flashlight and radio, food, water, and more. And, if you pre-order a 2010 Volvo XC60 at the event, you'll receive a lifetime subscription to Sirius satellite radio along with complimentary factory scheduled maintenance! Volvo of Calabasas combined its Lov Tour evening event with a local Chamber of Commerce mixer, provided live music by KCPhillips, and even served up delicious Swedish meatballs and Chicken Satay, so we had a chance to tour the vehicle, tour the fabulous dealership, and meet new business associates.
If you live on the West Coast, you can click here to find a "From Sweden with Lov" tour stop near you and experience this new car and its amazing technology firsthand.
Jody DeVere
President and CEO
http://www.askpatty.com
http://www.carblabber.com
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