As much as we all enjoy living life on the edge, driving a safer car is something every sane person really ought to do, and to this end, Volvo makes the safest cars. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has just started reporting their results for a test simulating a high-speed crash into a pole head on into the area around the drivers-side wheel well. VW, Audi, BMW, and Mercedes all failed the test, yet the Swedish designed Volvo S60 passed with flying colours. Does this mean the Swedes are better than the Germans as a people, no, history has proven that, but the inherent safety margin in most Scandinavian engineering does say something about the culture. Anyone who has followed the Wikileaks scandal has learned just how apparently safety conscious Sweden is at least in the context of consensual sex. Of course, Germany has a far lower threshold for condom use, so you may want to head there if you’re a prematurely grey Australian who isn’t overly fond of wrapping it up the next morning.
One thing is for sure, the other automakers are now going to engineer their cars to pass this new test. Since we live in a market economy, they’re going to have to… There is, of course, the nagging feeling that Volvo, who passed first time out have moved their attention elsewhere. They have, and it’s already on all their cars. CitySafe stops the car from getting in accidents up to 31 miles per hour, so there, you Volvo can’t crash. That’s right, the car won’t let you crash it in an urban environment. Since most people lack the mental faculties to be aware of their shortcomings as drivers, we’ll have to wait until Toyota and GM are forced to install it by some new overarching regulation. Although, I’m not exactly sure that I’m onboard with such a massive government intrusion or having such a system made by the lowest bidder. But, we know it’s coming, since Volvo is always in the vanguard of what’s going to be eventually required safety equipment; be they seat belts, side-airbags, or ABS.
It ought to be said that Volvo used to have an in country competitor is this contest, albeit one who made slightly sportier cars, but GM milked that cow to death. General Motors used SAAB’s engineering department to make the rest of their cars suck slightly less, but in a clever trick of corporate accounting, failed to reimburse their former Swedish subsidiary. The then bankrupt General (read US Government) Motors then sold-off SAAB to Spyker, but prevented them from taking in outside investment to protect their ‘technology’, which is funny since it’s the old Vectra platform they’re worried about. Ford sold Volvo to the Chinese, and Volvo was far more intertwined in the corporate parent than SAAB ever was. Also, Ford makes decent cars, and didn’t go bankrupt, becoming an arm of the current American administration. So, maybe the Swedes ought to question the actions of the US Government and it’s agents, but that’s up to them… In the meantime, Volvo makes a safe car; buy one if you care.
