Nearly one-third of all car crashes involve rear-end collisions. And in nearly half of those, the driver never touched the brakes. Volvo has been developing collision warning systems for years. The company introduced a warning system with brake support in the S80 in 2006. It was based on radar technology. The new system, Collision Warning with Auto Brake (CWAB), combines radar with a camera. It warns the driver and pre-charges the brakes. The brakes are automatically activated if the driver doesn't act when a rear-end collision is imminent. The radar has a range of 150 meters; the camera's range is 55 meters. Actual braking is activated only if both systems agree that a crash is imminent. First a red warning light is flashed on the heads-up display on the windshield, much like a brake light. Then the car hits its own brakes. The system offers three settings to accommodate different driving conditions and individual driving styles. No doubt this will raise howls among certain cliques of drivers who feel that control is being wrested from them. It will also probably save lives. Expensive sports cars with traction control systems invariably have a switch to turn it off. Why? When the driver wants to take the car to the track, the technology can slow the exit on a poorly executed turn. Yet only the most experienced race-car drivers can improve their lap times with traction control turned off. The on/off switch flatters a driver's ego, but it rarely helps his performance. Volvo's new system will be available in the S80, V70 and XC70 at the end of this year.
Source: Volvo
