Do you ever look in your rearview mirror and think, “That car almost didn’t stop in time!” You’re not alone, and now Volvo has a system that can ensure that you can stop in time in congested driving situations. It’s called City Safety, and it’s standard in the Volvo XC60. (You can expect to see it in more Volvo models in the near future.)

Rear-end collisions are more common than you may think. In the United States, in fact, they account for 29 percent of all reported car accidents. Perhaps more alarmingly, in about half of all rear-end collisions, the driver doesn’t brake at all prior to impact. Ask yourself, honestly – have you ever almost driven into the back of another vehicle?

In urban environments, “bumper-to-bumper” traffic and highway toll plazas, it takes less than a second of inattention to cause a rear-end collision. You never know when the car ahead, reacting to something you cannot even see, will stop suddenly. That’s why Volvo invented City Safety, to help prevent rear-end collisions in such driving situations.

City Safety helps avoid or reduce the consequences of a collision at low speed by automatically braking the car and at the same time restricting engine power. In addition, the brakelights are activated to warn following traffic. This truly innovative safety system is designed to prevent or mitigate collisions occurring at speeds of 19 mph or less. Although such accidents do not always lead to serious injuries, they can give rise to neck injuries that may be long lasting, and an accident victim may experience difficulties in the years ahead.

As the driver of a Volvo XC60, you don’t need to do anything to use City Safety. Here’s how it works: A closing velocity sensor helps determine whether a collision is likely. Depending on the closing speed, City Safety will either pre-charge the brakes or automatically brake the XC60 to help avoid a rear-end collision or lessen its impact.

The City Safety system does not simply “slam on the brakes.” It is intelligent enough to calculate the braking speed needed to avoid a collision, based on the XC60’s own speed and the gap to the vehicle in front. This means that, even if you have started to apply the brake pedal yourself, the system can determine if you’re using enough brake pressure to stop in time. If you’re not, it will increase braking pressure.

City Safety is programmed to respond to vehicles in front that are either stationary or are moving in the same direction. For example, if a vehicle ahead has non-functioning brakelights, City Safety can step in before you realize that it is stopped.

To reiterate, City Safety debuted on the all-new XC60 model in 2009 and is again standard on the 2010 XC60, which starts at just $32,395 for the XC60 3.2 model.

City Safety is just one in a long line of Volvo safety innovations, many now standard equipment, including multiple grades of steel throughout the vehicle, intelligent airbags, electronic vehicle stability systems, Roll Stability Control (RSC), Driver Alert, Blind Spot Identification System, Lane Departure Warning, Adaptive Cruise Control with Collision Warning and Automatic Braking – just to name a few. Many of these or similar systems, pioneered by Volvo, are now offered on other vehicles.

Volvo’s hope is always that other manufacturers adopt innovative safety technology. That was certainly the case when Volvo invented the three-point seatbelt 50 years ago. Even though other carmakers were slow to add that device, it has nevertheless been credited with saving more than one million lives and is now standard equipment on every car.

To see the future of auto safety today, come in for a closer look and road test of the 2010 XC60.