While that mishap was somehow swept under the rug and the S60 hit the market complete with the system (which by the way works perfectly, judging by the lack of incidents reported), we wonder how will Volvo will cope with this latest big hole in their safety technologies.
Earlier in September, Volvo announced it will be bringing the S60 in Australia complete with the new, incredible Pedestrian Avoidance Technology (PAT), the same one which was supposed to help reduce the fatality risk of a pedestrian collision by 85 percent.
That, however, might not be the case, considering what a group of Australian journalists witnessed during a presentation pretty much like the one for the crash-avoidance system. Fitted on the S60 as well, PAT is supposed to slow the vehicle or initiate full braking as soon as a pedestrian and the lack of reaction from the driver are detected. Only it doesn't.
Not completely, at least. According to Volvo, only 0.3 percent of the tests ended in the cars hitting the dummies, for an undisclosed reason.
Volvo’s PAT can reportedly avoid a collision with a pedestrian at speeds of up to 22 mph (35 km/h) if the driver does not react in time. At higher speeds, the focus is on slowing down the car as much as possible prior to the impact.
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