Geneva Show-bound Volvo XC60 gets crash-preventing steering support system

The Volvo XC60 is to be revealed at the Geneva Motor Show with a new automatic steering assistance system that is claimed to significantly reduce the chances of an accident.

The technology works with the car’s city safety automatic braking technology at speeds of 50-100kph, turning the wheels away from an impact when braking alone won’t prevent it.

Steering support, active between 50-100kph, engages when automatic braking alone would not help avoid a potential collision. In such circumstances, the car will provide steering assistance to avoid the obstacle ahead.  

In the case of a potential impact with an oncoming vehicle, the system called Oncoming Lane Mitigation can also steer the car back onto the correct side of the road. This part of the system works at speeds of 37-87mph (59kph-139kph).

Oncoming Lane Mitigation works by alerting a driver who has unwittingly wandered out of a driving lane by providing automatic steering assistance, guiding him back into his own lane and out of the path of any oncoming vehicle. It is active between 60-140kph.

Cars specced with an optional blind spot information system can use the technology to prevent potential impacts with cars that are unsighted by drivers. The active steering system can take control of the wheel to direct the car away from a vehicle before contact is made.

“In Sweden alone we have seen a decline of around 45% in rear-end frontal crashes thanks to our collision warning with auto brake system,” said Malin Ekholm, Volvo’s senior director at it safety centre. “With the XC60 we are determined to take the next step in reducing avoidable collisions with the addition of steering support and assistance systems.”

The new technology represents a step towards Volvo’s target for nobody to die in its new models from the year 2020.