Volvo Winnipeg Blog

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 children1.

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 whilst 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, 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.

Volvo Cars of Canada Corp. encourages all customers to make themselves aware of the regulations and recommendations stipulated by Transport Canada regarding young passengers.

1All 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.

http://www.volvocanada.com/NewsAndEvents/PressReleases.aspx?lng=2&NewsItemID=27

Göteborg (February 19, 2008) — The very first Volvo car left the factory on April 14, 1927. It was called the ÖV4 because the letters ÖV are Swedish for “Open Car” and 4 denoted the number of cylinders powering the new Swedish car. On February 20, 2008, it is once again an open car that is under the spotlights. That’s when car number 15,000,000, an attractive convertible Volvo C70, will leave the factory in Uddevalla.

In the first year, production proceeded at a modest pace, with 297 cars being sold in 1927. Emerging from the shadow of the global economic depression and Second World War, it took Volvo 23 years to build its first 100,000 cars. Today, that figure corresponds to about three months of production.

However, Volvo has never really been a high-volume manufacturer. Early in the company’s history, it was decided that the brand name should signify quality and safety. Since the early 1970s, environmental issues too have come to the forefront of the company’s corporate agenda. It is therefore no accident that Volvo was first off the mark with the world’s single most important safety invention (the 3-point safety belt was fitted as standard to Volvo cars as far back as 1959) and with one of the world’s foremost innovations in the environmental sphere (the 3-way catalytic converter with Lambdasond was introduced in 1976).

Many Volvo owners have over the years also expressed their appreciation of their cars’ sensible, solid engineering. Functionality has always been important and this was confirmed when British motoring magazine AutoExpress undertook an ambitious survey about ten years ago to find out which cars are best and worst to live with from the owner’s viewpoint. Two Volvo models took part in the survey, and both won their classes. The Volvo C70 was regarded as the best sports car and the Volvo S80 was named the best luxury car in stiff competition against considerably more expensive cars.

Today the Volvo brand is equally renowned for the attractive design of cars that reflect characteristic Scandinavian design traditions. When that first car drove past the factory gates back in 1927, it proudly carried its “iron symbol” on the radiator grille. That mark was and still is a symbol of Swedish steel and quality. When car number 15,000,000 now leaves the factory in Uddevalla, that symbol is still carried with pride on the front and it still represents quality and solidity. The Volvo C70 is one of the absolute safest convertibles ever built. It is a functional and spacious car. And it is actually two cars in one as the three-piece retractable hardtop transforms the Volvo C70 from coupe to convertible at the touch of a button.

Footnote: The best-selling Volvo model ever is the classic 200 Series. Between 1974 and 1993, no less than 2,862,573 were built.

Footnote II: Probably the best-known of all Volvo models is the P1800 sports coupe that was built during the 1960s. For one thing, it was the car that Roger Moore drove in the highly popular TV series “The Saint”. For another, Irv Gordon’s red P1800 from 1966 is in the Guinness Book of Records as the car that has covered a higher mileage than any other car on the planet. In 2002 his car’s odometer rolled past 2,000,000 miles (3,218,000 km) and in 2012 Irv expects to be doing the three million mile (4,827,000 km) service on his trusty car. Beat that if you can…

http://www.volvocanada.com/NewsAndEvents/PressReleases.aspx?lng=2&NewsItemID=29

TORONTO (March 19, 2008) — Volvo Cars of Canada Corp. will introduce a new, turbocharged 6-cylinder performance engine on the XC70 with the launch of the 2009 model year. The 281-horsepower engine — dubbed T6 — will be mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission and the company’s all-wheel drive system.

“The T6 adds an extra dimension to the engine range,” says Hans Wikman, Vice President Vehicle Line Large Cars at Volvo Car Corporation. “The engine has been programmed to provide the highest possible performance with the lowest possible fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.”

While based on the 3.2-litre, in-line 6-cylinder engine currently available in the S80 and standard on the V70 and XC70, the new T6 engine is slightly smaller and includes an advanced turbocharger to deliver the increase of 46-horsepower. Displacing 3.0-litres, the T6 delivers 295 ft.-lbs of torque from 1,500 rpm and up through the rev range for quick acceleration and smooth drivability. Prices will be announced closer to the on-sale date.

The smaller engine displacement of the T6 is the result of a slightly narrower cylinder bore and shorter stroke. The turbocharger accepts exhaust gases in two stages as the inflow is divided into two lots of three cylinders each, a system known as twin-scroll technology. Twin-scroll technology permits the use of a more compact and less complicated turbocharger and provides swift response on-par with traditional twin turbochargers found in some 6-cylinder engines.

The T6 will be paired with Volvo’s All Wheel Drive. Using an electronically controlled hydraulic clutch, the AWD system distributes drive between the front and rear wheels to ensure the best possible road grip in all situations. The system also features Instant Traction, which pre-charges the rear wheels with torque as the vehicle slows to a stop and released during take-off.

http://www.volvocanada.com/NewsAndEvents/PressReleases.aspx?lng=2&NewsItemID=32

DETROIT (May 1, 2008) – Volvo Cars of Canada Corp. has announced plans to introduce an optional R-Design package for the C30, S40, V50 and XC90 for the 2009 model year. R-Design includes model-specific design cues that promise to draw attention to the vehicles, while still offering a premium experience expected of a Volvo vehicle.

“The possibility of tailoring one’s car to suit personal tastes is becoming increasingly important to car buyers today,” noted Gerry Keaney, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Sales and Customer Service at Volvo Car Corporation. “R-Design has been developed for buyers who want a refined and sporty look for their cars.”

Customers will have a choice of exterior colours, and all cars will include an R-Design badge in the grille accompanied by a range of specially designed exterior and interior details. Prices will be announced closer to the on-sale date.

Exterior features include a satin matt-finish grille, colour coordinated bumpers and lower side mouldings, rear or roof spoiler, satin matt-finish door mirror caps and five-spoke aluminum wheels. Sporty 17 inch and 18 inch wheels will be available on C30, S40 and V50 R-Design, while 19 inch and 20 inch wheels will be available on XC90 R-Design (dependent upon car variant).

Contrasting seats
Inside the C30, S40 and V50, seats will be in off-black Vulcaflex with the seat cushion and backrest in contrasting cream-coloured leather. The R-Design logo is embossed on the backrest and the contrasting stitching reinforce the seats’ sporty appearance.

Other R-Design interior details include a leather-trimmed steering wheel with R-Design logo, the unique R-inspired instrument cluster, aluminum sport pedals, specially designed aluminum center stack and door inlays, gear selector with aluminum inlay and tufted dark sport floor mats with contrasting light leather seams.

Emotional and extrovert
“R-Design is entirely in line with the accelerated focus on making our cars more extroverted and emotional,” says Steve Mattin, Senior Vice President and Design Director at Volvo Cars. “It gives the buyers the opportunity to spice up the already distinct personality of these car models.”

The R-Design package will become available on the C30, S40, V50 and XC90 in 2008.

http://www.volvocanada.com/NewsAndEvents/PressReleases.aspx?lng=2&NewsItemID=34

At Volvo Car Corporation, the corporate vision for the design and engineering process of its products is that, ultimately, the company will build vehicles that should not crash. While this is a vision the company has for the future, in the shorter term, Volvo Cars envisions no one killed or injured in a Volvo vehicle in the year 2020.

“We don’t accept that people lose their lives in airplane accidents, so why should we regard traffic collisions as inevitable?” says Jan Ivarsson, head of Safety Strategy at the Volvo Cars.

The World Health Organisation estimates that some 1.2 million people are killed and more than 50 million are wounded in automobile collisions every year. With an ever-increasing number of vehicles on the road, these figures are expected to rapidly increase if no action is taken. Volvo Cars is determined to continue leading the industry in the field of safety by using its vision of a collision-free future as a guiding principle.

“Continuous research and enhancement of safety in and around our vehicles will be essential for achieving a safer driver environment and a collision-free future,” Ivarsson continues. “In this aim, we invite fruitful cooperation with authorities and the automotive industry.”

Since its formation in 1970, the Volvo Cars Accident Research Team has investigated more than 36,000 collisions involving Volvo vehicles. The team fills a database with information about the crashed cars to evaluate the performance of existing protective safety systems and gather data on the need for updates or new systems. Just as important as what happens during a crash is the understanding of why a collision occurred in the first place. In this regard, the Research Team also studies the driving environment and interviews the people involved to better understand driver behaviour.

It’s this knowledge gained from real world traffic collisions that has led Volvo Cars to design vehicles with a very high level of safety for real world collisions and developing new technologies to help drivers better avoid collisions.

“With more and more advanced technology, we design vehicles that help the driver avoid collisions and hopefully also avoid exposure to dangerous situations,” says Ivarsson.

To further address situations that might lead vehicles to collide, the Volvo Cars safety research and development strategy includes a broader view of the subject than traditionally focusing simply on collisions.

Even though the technology to design a collision-free traffic environment is not in place yet, the safety experts at Volvo Cars say they have created a path for the company to get there. To do this, the engineers and designers must look into the driver’s whole journey, from everyday driving to post collision. This journey can be divided into five phases and during each step there’s an opportunity to enhance safety:

Phase 1: Normal driving – Driver kept informed on the driving environment and driver concentration.
Phase 2: Conflict – Driver enters a potentially hazardous situation, yet is able to cope with it through emergency avoidance manoeuvres.
Phase 3: Avoidance – Driver less capable of coping with the situation without assistance.
Phase 4: Damage reduction – Driver and vehicle are incapable of avoiding a collision and actions are taken to prepare for the collision and to potentially reduce crash forces.
Phase 5: Post collision – Driver offered assistance and rescue.

Volvo Cars also follows the principle that the driver should always be in command. The preventive safety systems of the vehicle should support the driver, for instance by monitoring drowsiness or distraction. The vehicle’s systems can also warn the driver when the distance to other vehicles is too short. It is not until the driver fails to react and a collision is imminent or unavoidable that the vehicle autonomously engages systems – such as the brakes – to potentially avoid or minimize the effects of a collision. Lowered impact speed leads to less crash energy, which increases the performance of the vehicle’s protective safety systems such as seat belts, airbags and crumple zones. As well, Volvo Cars plans to introduce safety technologies in the near future that make it possible to detect and auto-brake for pedestrians and even auto-steer away from oncoming vehicles.

With this new vision, Volvo Cars challenges not only itself but also the automotive industry and governments, as a collision-free future cannot be obtained by one company or organization alone. Safer traffic has three main stakeholders: the automotive manufacturers, the drivers and the groups in charge of the infrastructure.

“There is considerable safety potential in creating communication between vehicles and infrastructure,” explains Ivarsson. “Two vehicles could, for example, warn each other of queues or slippery roads. Infrastructure sensors could warn the driver of people or animals crossing the road.”

This requires that all vehicles speak the same language regardless of brand, so international standards are needed.

Ultimately, though, the driver and passengers must also understand the importance of following traffic rules and using the vehicle’s safety equipment.

“The three-point safety belt, invented by Volvo, was introduced as standard equipment nearly 50 years ago,” says Ivarsson. “At that time, we believed it was so important to mankind that we offered the patent entirely free of charge to all manufacturers. It is still regarded as the most life-saving safety equipment in cars. Nevertheless, many people still do not use it. There is still a lot we can do to inform people about safety in the vehicles of today.”

Volvo Cars of Canada Corp. is part of the Volvo Car Corporation of Göteborg, Sweden. The company provides marketing, sales, parts, service, technology and training support to the 42 Volvo automobile retailers across the country. The company’s product range includes the stylish and sporty C30, the elegant C70 hardtop convertible, the compact S40 sedan, the S60 sport sedan, the S80 flagship sedan and the versatile V50 and V70 wagon. For customers looking for a Volvo vehicle with all-road capability, the company offers the versatile XC70 and XC90. Volvo Canada is also expanding its line-up with the introduction of the new XC60, a crossover with the award-winning City Safety system on the standard equipment list.

http://www.volvocanada.com/NewsAndEvents/PressReleases.aspx?lng=2&NewsItemID=37

Christina Selter, Founder of Bark Buckle Up, awarded the Volvo XC90 as safe for pets because of its wire mesh accessory that installs in the cargo area, the vehicle’s multiple tie-down points to secure pet seatbelts or pet carriers and Volvo Car Corporation’s dedication to safety. For Selter and her group, the importance of properly securing a pet in a moving vehicle extends beyond the safety of the animal.

“Few people understand that a 27 kilogram dog becomes more than 1.2 tonnes of mass in a vehicle travelling at just 55 km/h,” she said. “In a frontal collision, an unrestrained pet can become a serious safety hazard. Things can get even worse for emergency responders who are the first on the scene of a collision. An unrestrained dog can be a danger to them and, if loose, can cause other vehicles to collide on the road.”

A team of pet safety experts from Bark Buckle Up has been travelling across the US to demonstrate pet travel products and promote awareness for safely travelling with pets. The group is working on plans to expand the pet safety roadshow to Canada.

“Volvo and Bark Buckle Up share a common goal: safety,” said Jeff Pugliese, President and CEO of Volvo Cars of Canada Corp. “Whether two-or four-legged, the safety of the occupants in a moving vehicle is a primary concern for families and drivers everywhere. Pets of all kinds need to be properly restrained in a vehicle, not only for their own safety, but because of the potential distraction they can become for the driver and an unsecured hazard in the event of a collision.”

More information can be found at http://www.barkbuckleup.com.