Issues with City Safety activation? Driver experiences.

wjf · Nov 18th, 2015, 21:01

Hello, first time poster here. I recently took delivery of a diesel momentum level model. I got it late August (in Europe) but its been with the dealer since mid September with less than 1,000 kms on the clock due to a serious incident I had when the city safety activated while I was on a motorway in heavy morning traffic. It was during particularly intense rainfall. After braking the car sat dead on the road and wouldn't move until I put it back to park (this was on a busy motorway in rush hour traffic remember) and then drive and then it moved. This was in intense rain and poor visibility. It was a miracle the cars and trucks behind me didn't have a massive pile up and kill us all.

Volvo ran checks and tell me city safety worked correctly as a truck in front was breaking. I understood the initial explanation in theory but not that the car had to stop dead, as the report showed the closet distance was 7 metres and I had already slowed to 28 km/h due to the rain and as I was in a curve exiting one motorway and joining another.

When I questioned the Volvo sales rep about it he said the car saved me from crashing into the truck but then he agreed the cars and trucks behind me might still have killed me. it was a slightly bizzare answer.

What really is worryingly is that Volvo say they cant tell why the car subsequently wouldn't move off as they cant recreate the incident despite me making a full statement and what really concerns me is that they won't investigate it any further, end of.I have this in writing by email and it was the last point on a 22 page powerpoint report they produced for me. I sat immobile in the middle of a motorway in rush hour for over a minute and people could have been killed. I am stunned they seem to be so uninterested in investigating this fully.

As long as they cannot explain the incident in full I am not satisfied the car is safe to drive and I don't feel they have fully looked into what happened or that they really understand their own software.

Incidentally, the dealer service has been poor, it's a mainly ford dealer, they gave me a baseline Mondeo as a replacement, and I've had to continually chase for any information. There tone has now become far more forthright and they have told me to take my car away or they will start charging me storage.
At the last meeting with the dealer last week he was far more helpful and said he'd find a solution. I take it now Volvo have said they wont do anything so he is trying to get rid of me.

Has anyone with a new XC90 had a similar issue?

volvorocks · Nov 18th, 2015, 21:59

Would it be the 'city safety' or the 'auto cruise control' , because as far as I am aware city safety only works at speeds up to 30mph (50kph), and is different to the automatic systems included with the auto cruise control. If it was city safety and you say you were only doing 28 a message comes up on the dash.

Once city safety has been activated, the car should move off as normal. Mine has activated a few times on XC60 (not90) abrupt stop, then ability to move on.

Regards

wjf · Nov 18th, 2015, 22:18

Hi that's interesting. It was definitely city safety, as it flashed in red on the windshield and stopped abruptly. Speed is as per the report Volvo shared with me. It's the fact that it wouldn't move then that is the concern. The dealer thought it could be the auto handbrake also activated so it had to be deactivated, but they never looked into that. The car was in the settings it came delivered in.

Looby62000 · Jul 28th, 2016, 19:49

Hi there, this is my first post as I registered to find out more about this problem. Yesterday whilst travelling to work out of town, I turned left on to a quiet rural road with NO traffic, cyclists, pedestrians or animals. As I started to accelerate my seatbelt tightened and brakes stopped me completely. 'City safety activation' came up on the dashboard and I could not move. If there had been anyone behind me they would have hit me. I was unable to move the car so tried turning it off and back on, by which time traffic was behind me. I was then able to move, very shakily. The car has been in to the dealership today to check it out but the cars system had logged nothing. They've upgraded the software and calibrated the front camera, but I'm really apprehensive about driving it now. I previously had the new XC60 D4, then since last November a new XC90 D5 AWD inspiration. I changed to this most recent one two weeks ago for the cameras and the sun roof and thought both previous volvo's were absolutely amazing. Just hoping that this is sorted now as I travel the same route to work, which is why I bought a Volvo, for safety! Has anyone else had this problem, with no other vehicles etc nearby? Thanks, Lisa

Lexman8 · Jul 28th, 2016, 20:13

Strangely enough, as I was driving along an urban road yesterday, and for no apparent reason, I got the City Safety warning lights and alarm. I think I braked before the car did so the seat belt wasn't activated and I didn't get the activation warning on the dash. I didn't stop the car completely and upon releasing the brake pedal I was able to drive on.

It happened on a bend and there were cars parked on my side of the road. I suspect it saw one of these cars as a threat. It was disconcerting though!

Anyone else had something similar?

neon · Jul 28th, 2016, 23:02

I bet it has been really difficult for Volvo to get the right balance on this system. When I test drove one for a day I had the red lights flash on the windscreen twice and the noise. Once I think was a bird flying close to the front of the windscreen and second was when I was passing some parked cars with close oncoming traffic. I did not notice any braking though.
I will see when I get mine, my dealer emailed me today with a current date of 13th Sept to him, which has come forward by about 2 weeks.

shortword · Jul 29th, 2016, 06:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lexman8

Strangely enough, as I was driving along an urban road yesterday, and for no apparent reason, I got the City Safety warning lights and alarm. I think I braked before the car did so the seat belt wasn't activated and I didn't get the activation warning on the dash. I didn't stop the car completely and upon releasing the brake pedal I was able to drive on.

It happened on a bend and there were cars parked on my side of the road. I suspect it saw one of these cars as a threat. It was disconcerting though!

Anyone else had something similar?

Yep. What I've observed though is that it'll warn you about obstructions that come out onto the road. i.e. vehicles parked on the roadside that are out onto the road, even slightly. So with that in mind I drive a lot of country roads and these warnings happen from time to time.

There is also a particular set of traffic lights on my commute to work every morning where I always kind of tailgate the guys in front of me. Now the car only goes nuts at me if I'm doing about 60km/h and the guy in front is turning left. So he is indicating and braking hard to make the turn and i'm just letting the car coast and I've judged the distance so I know there is no issue. But yet the car on at least 3 occasions has pulled my belt and autobroke (allbeit ever so slightly) and I've tapped the breaks.

I have however never had the car come to a complete stop. That seems a bit bizarre.

Skep · Jul 29th, 2016, 09:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lexman8

Strangely enough, as I was driving along an urban road yesterday, and for no apparent reason, I got the City Safety warning lights and alarm. I think I braked before the car did so the seat belt wasn't activated and I didn't get the activation warning on the dash. I didn't stop the car completely and upon releasing the brake pedal I was able to drive on.

It happened on a bend and there were cars parked on my side of the road. I suspect it saw one of these cars as a threat. It was disconcerting though!

Anyone else had something similar?

Had mine since March, mine does this regularly (probably the wrong word) but you get used to it, there is a sensitivity setting in the menu that you can turn it down which helps, as you say it does pick up parked cars and also I had it pick up the central reserve thing like at pedestrian crossings. It has a think for a millisecond then decides it isn't an issue. But when it actually works on the motorway it is quite impressive 😳

Marley Don · Jul 29th, 2016, 11:09

I think you just get used to it, can be annoying some times but about 3 months ago after a night of no sleep (we have 6 month old twins) it did save me from having a bump on the motorway. On that basis I can live with the minor irritation of it being activated when I pass the odd parked car.

Roger212 · Mar 23rd, 2020, 23:03

Interesting to read these messages. We have an XC60 and yesterday with my wife driving it suddenly braked to a stop from about 40mph all by itself on a country road for no reason and the Mercedes behind ran into it. Fortunately no injuries but if this happened on a main road and the car was being followed by a lorry this could have been a fatality. I am e-mailing Volvo to tell them and expect to get a better response than WJF at the top or the papers will get to hear of it. The car is now being sold as my wife refuses to drive it again.

Nov 18th, 2015, 21:01	#1
wjf New Member Last Online: Nov 18th, 2015 22:18 Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Luxembourg	Issues with City Safety activation? Driver experiences. Hello, first time poster here. I recently took delivery of a diesel momentum level model. I got it late August (in Europe) but its been with the dealer since mid September with less than 1,000 kms on the clock due to a serious incident I had when the city safety activated while I was on a motorway in heavy morning traffic. It was during particularly intense rainfall. After braking the car sat dead on the road and wouldn't move until I put it back to park (this was on a busy motorway in rush hour traffic remember) and then drive and then it moved. This was in intense rain and poor visibility. It was a miracle the cars and trucks behind me didn't have a massive pile up and kill us all. Volvo ran checks and tell me city safety worked correctly as a truck in front was breaking. I understood the initial explanation in theory but not that the car had to stop dead, as the report showed the closet distance was 7 metres and I had already slowed to 28 km/h due to the rain and as I was in a curve exiting one motorway and joining another. When I questioned the Volvo sales rep about it he said the car saved me from crashing into the truck but then he agreed the cars and trucks behind me might still have killed me. it was a slightly bizzare answer. What really is worryingly is that Volvo say they cant tell why the car subsequently wouldn't move off as they cant recreate the incident despite me making a full statement and what really concerns me is that they won't investigate it any further, end of.I have this in writing by email and it was the last point on a 22 page powerpoint report they produced for me. I sat immobile in the middle of a motorway in rush hour for over a minute and people could have been killed. I am stunned they seem to be so uninterested in investigating this fully. As long as they cannot explain the incident in full I am not satisfied the car is safe to drive and I don't feel they have fully looked into what happened or that they really understand their own software. Incidentally, the dealer service has been poor, it's a mainly ford dealer, they gave me a baseline Mondeo as a replacement, and I've had to continually chase for any information. There tone has now become far more forthright and they have told me to take my car away or they will start charging me storage. At the last meeting with the dealer last week he was far more helpful and said he'd find a solution. I take it now Volvo have said they wont do anything so he is trying to get rid of me. Has anyone with a new XC90 had a similar issue?

Nov 18th, 2015, 21:59	#2
volvorocks Rodney Last Online: Aug 4th, 2016 05:02 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: On The Street	Would it be the 'city safety' or the 'auto cruise control' , because as far as I am aware city safety only works at speeds up to 30mph (50kph), and is different to the automatic systems included with the auto cruise control. If it was city safety and you say you were only doing 28 a message comes up on the dash. Once city safety has been activated, the car should move off as normal. Mine has activated a few times on XC60 (not90) abrupt stop, then ability to move on. Regards Last edited by volvorocks; Nov 18th, 2015 at 22:02.

Jul 28th, 2016, 19:49	#4
Looby62000 New Member Last Online: Jul 30th, 2016 18:29 Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Grimsby	City safety activation Hi there, this is my first post as I registered to find out more about this problem. Yesterday whilst travelling to work out of town, I turned left on to a quiet rural road with NO traffic, cyclists, pedestrians or animals. As I started to accelerate my seatbelt tightened and brakes stopped me completely. 'City safety activation' came up on the dashboard and I could not move. If there had been anyone behind me they would have hit me. I was unable to move the car so tried turning it off and back on, by which time traffic was behind me. I was then able to move, very shakily. The car has been in to the dealership today to check it out but the cars system had logged nothing. They've upgraded the software and calibrated the front camera, but I'm really apprehensive about driving it now. I previously had the new XC60 D4, then since last November a new XC90 D5 AWD inspiration. I changed to this most recent one two weeks ago for the cameras and the sun roof and thought both previous volvo's were absolutely amazing. Just hoping that this is sorted now as I travel the same route to work, which is why I bought a Volvo, for safety! Has anyone else had this problem, with no other vehicles etc nearby? Thanks, Lisa

Jul 28th, 2016, 23:02	#6
neon Premier Member Last Online: Apr 2nd, 2023 10:37 Join Date: May 2016 Location: Yorkshire	I bet it has been really difficult for Volvo to get the right balance on this system. When I test drove one for a day I had the red lights flash on the windscreen twice and the noise. Once I think was a bird flying close to the front of the windscreen and second was when I was passing some parked cars with close oncoming traffic. I did not notice any braking though. I will see when I get mine, my dealer emailed me today with a current date of 13th Sept to him, which has come forward by about 2 weeks. Last edited by neon; Jul 28th, 2016 at 23:04.

Nov 18th, 2015, 22:18	#3
wjf New Member Last Online: Nov 18th, 2015 22:18 Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Luxembourg	Hi that's interesting. It was definitely city safety, as it flashed in red on the windshield and stopped abruptly. Speed is as per the report Volvo shared with me. It's the fact that it wouldn't move then that is the concern. The dealer thought it could be the auto handbrake also activated so it had to be deactivated, but they never looked into that. The car was in the settings it came delivered in.

Jul 28th, 2016, 20:13	#5
Lexman8 Premier Member Last Online: Today 16:41 Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Yorkshire	Strangely enough, as I was driving along an urban road yesterday, and for no apparent reason, I got the City Safety warning lights and alarm. I think I braked before the car did so the seat belt wasn't activated and I didn't get the activation warning on the dash. I didn't stop the car completely and upon releasing the brake pedal I was able to drive on. It happened on a bend and there were cars parked on my side of the road. I suspect it saw one of these cars as a threat. It was disconcerting though! Anyone else had something similar?

Jul 29th, 2016, 11:09	#9
Marley Don Junior Member Last Online: Oct 19th, 2020 14:30 Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Leeds	I think you just get used to it, can be annoying some times but about 3 months ago after a night of no sleep (we have 6 month old twins) it did save me from having a bump on the motorway. On that basis I can live with the minor irritation of it being activated when I pass the odd parked car.

Mar 23rd, 2020, 23:03	#10
Roger212 New Member Last Online: Mar 23rd, 2020 23:03 Join Date: Mar 2020 Location: Ashbourne	Interesting to read these messages. We have an XC60 and yesterday with my wife driving it suddenly braked to a stop from about 40mph all by itself on a country road for no reason and the Mercedes behind ran into it. Fortunately no injuries but if this happened on a main road and the car was being followed by a lorry this could have been a fatality. I am e-mailing Volvo to tell them and expect to get a better response than WJF at the top or the papers will get to hear of it. The car is now being sold as my wife refuses to drive it again.

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