City Safety - how to tell it is working?

archie159 · Oct 31st, 2022, 10:21

Good day. I've had my second hand XC60 (late 2015) for nearly a year now, and have doubts that the City Safety is actually working at all. I've watched carefully the online video from Volvo which describes how it should function (and found the video from that year to be sure that I was looking at the right version), and I have tested it as much as I dare without actually crashing the car. Not once has it kicked in, as far as I can tell. I've had a few scares when cars suddenly braked in front of me, or someone stepped out onto the road, and again, nothing.
When I had the car serviced recently, I asked the garage (the Volvo dealer where I bought it) to investigate. They came back and said that as far as they can tell, it is working. However they said they have no way of really proving that, and certainly cannot take the car out and nearly crash it! All they can do is look for error messages, and they said there were none showing.
In the discussion with the service manager, he did admit that his Volvo's City Safety does noticeably kick in on occasions, and he agreed it was surprising that I'd not had this happen to me. But he said he really didn't know what to do about it. As the car is still (just) under the Volvo warranty which came with the car when I bought it, he agreed he'd go away and do some investigation. Since then I have heard nothing, and only have about a fortnight to go before the warranty expires (I'm undecided whether to renew it).
So - does anyone have any suggestions or comments? Do those of you who have this feature notice it? Anyone had a similar issue and know how to definitively prove whether it is working or not?
Thank you - grateful for any useful suggestions!

SnineT · Oct 31st, 2022, 10:29

As you approach a bend the car will ram the brakes on when it spots a parked car on the left, that's the best and most annoying way I found it works anyway, and don't forget to check if the poor sod behind you is ok afterwards.

Clan · Oct 31st, 2022, 10:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by archie159

Good day. I've had my second hand XC60 (late 2015) for nearly a year now, and have doubts that the City Safety is actually working at all. I've watched carefully the online video from Volvo which describes how it should function (and found the video from that year to be sure that I was looking at the right version), and I have tested it as much as I dare without actually crashing the car. Not once has it kicked in, as far as I can tell. I've had a few scares when cars suddenly braked in front of me, or someone stepped out onto the road, and again, nothing.
When I had the car serviced recently, I asked the garage (the Volvo dealer where I bought it) to investigate. They came back and said that as far as they can tell, it is working. However they said they have no way of really proving that, and certainly cannot take the car out and nearly crash it! All they can do is look for error messages, and they said there were none showing.
In the discussion with the service manager, he did admit that his Volvo's City Safety does noticeably kick in on occasions, and he agreed it was surprising that I'd not had this happen to me. But he said he really didn't know what to do about it. As the car is still (just) under the Volvo warranty which came with the car when I bought it, he agreed he'd go away and do some investigation. Since then I have heard nothing, and only have about a fortnight to go before the warranty expires (I'm undecided whether to renew it).
So - does anyone have any suggestions or comments? Do those of you who have this feature notice it? Anyone had a similar issue and know how to definitively prove whether it is working or not?
Thank you - grateful for any useful suggestions!

You should be thankful it hasn't operated ,it means you are driving in a manner where a crash is not imminent!

City safety works at the very last moment in which there is time to avoid a crash .. this is almost impossible to copy in real life as you are not working out all the mathematical calculations at that time and will always brake too early. Computers are far better at that than you are.

If there is anything at all wrong with it you will get a message on the dash.

you could test it by getting a big human shaped cardbox box and driving at it but be warned its not a pleasant experience. just forget about it and the odds of you ever needing it to operate are very very slim indeed.

Rocinante · Oct 31st, 2022, 14:14

I was going to post a very similar post to Clan.

If during your testing, you didn't actually crash the car, you were probably braking before the system had a chance to kick in, as it is designed to intervene at the last possible moment, and stop JUST in time.

I've had my car for 7 years and put around 90,000 miles on it, (although it's an earlier, 2011 model so system could be slightly different) and only had the system engage once, when I was entering a roundabout. A car on the roundabout was coming across the front of me, and I planned to enter behind him. I was travelling quick quickly, but was anticipating the car clearing my path by the time I reached him. City safety presumably couldn't tell that the obstacle, would be out of our way before we reached it, and kicked in. It de-engaged moments later when the obstacle removed itself from my path.

Big cardboard boxes in front of your car to drive in to is the only possible way to test it I think. Don't think they need to be person shaped.
The other thing to mention, although it may be stating the obvious, is there are limits on when it operates:
"City Safety™ is not activated at low speeds -
under 4 km/h, which is why the system does
not intervene in situations where a vehicle in
front is being approached very slowly, e.g.
when parking.
Driver commands are always prioritised,
which is why City Safety™ does not intervene
in situations where the driver is steering or
accelerating in a clear manner, even if a collision is unavoidable."

The other alternative is to get you wife to try to run you over:
https://www.swedespeed.com/threads/c....233897/page-2

"When we first got our first S60 I was intrigued as to how the City safety worked. So I told the Mrs to get on the driver seat while I stood on the middle of our street. I told her to let the car roll towards me and wait and see if the car would brake on its own. She was against the idea, but I told her how would we know if it works or if we can trust that function if we don't try it?. After some back and forth I convinced her to do it. Not gonna lie I was a bit scared even though the car was rolling at approx 3 mph. So as the car came closer and closer I was beginning to become a bit uneasy and started thinking this was a bad idea. When the car was about 8 inches away from me and I was about to jump out of the way the car aggressively braked! I immediately asked the Mrs. If she braked the car and said "no, look for yourself, this is cool". I went in the cabin and saw the dash, sure enough it read something along the lines of "auto braking by city safety". Stupid idea, but good outcome. At least I know on my car that feature works!"

JonnyA · Oct 31st, 2022, 15:08

i've activated mine twice, both times when i was approaching carpark barriers & before they'd lifted - gave me a bit of a surprise but reassuring that perhaps it does work as i have no plans to 'try it' for real.

Adrian B · Oct 31st, 2022, 16:23

Once for me as well at a carpark barrier. I agree an unnerving experience.

Ulrikas PA · Oct 31st, 2022, 17:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnineT

As you approach a bend the car will ram the brakes on when it spots a parked car on the left, that's the best and most annoying way I found it works anyway, and don't forget to check if the poor sod behind you is ok afterwards.

Yes, had that on a new Tiguan, approaching a roundabout. Car behind avoided me by shooting into the middle of the road.

SnineT · Oct 31st, 2022, 17:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ulrikas PA

Yes, had that on a new Tiguan, approaching a roundabout. Car behind avoided me by shooting into the middle of the road.

I thought me and the car were being abducted by aliens (again

) bing bing and a seatbelt test.

I even found the ACC could catch the car behind out where you'd normally roll to a stop 4 ft off the car in front it slows then does a hard stop with 8 ft to spare.

Ulrikas PA · Oct 31st, 2022, 17:24

Roll on fully autonomous, sensor-reliant driving... Or perhaps not.

SnineT · Oct 31st, 2022, 17:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ulrikas PA

Roll on fully autonomous, sensor-reliant driving... Or perhaps not.

I stumbled on something earlier and it was saying it won't be a thing in our lifetime as there's too many variables for it to properly work safely.

https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/0...ming-sceptical

Oct 31st, 2022, 10:21	#1
archie159 "Archie" Last Online: Yesterday 10:59 Join Date: Nov 2021 Location: Wiltshire	City Safety - how to tell it is working? Good day. I've had my second hand XC60 (late 2015) for nearly a year now, and have doubts that the City Safety is actually working at all. I've watched carefully the online video from Volvo which describes how it should function (and found the video from that year to be sure that I was looking at the right version), and I have tested it as much as I dare without actually crashing the car. Not once has it kicked in, as far as I can tell. I've had a few scares when cars suddenly braked in front of me, or someone stepped out onto the road, and again, nothing. When I had the car serviced recently, I asked the garage (the Volvo dealer where I bought it) to investigate. They came back and said that as far as they can tell, it is working. However they said they have no way of really proving that, and certainly cannot take the car out and nearly crash it! All they can do is look for error messages, and they said there were none showing. In the discussion with the service manager, he did admit that his Volvo's City Safety does noticeably kick in on occasions, and he agreed it was surprising that I'd not had this happen to me. But he said he really didn't know what to do about it. As the car is still (just) under the Volvo warranty which came with the car when I bought it, he agreed he'd go away and do some investigation. Since then I have heard nothing, and only have about a fortnight to go before the warranty expires (I'm undecided whether to renew it). So - does anyone have any suggestions or comments? Do those of you who have this feature notice it? Anyone had a similar issue and know how to definitively prove whether it is working or not? Thank you - grateful for any useful suggestions!

Oct 31st, 2022, 15:08	#5
JonnyA Member Last Online: May 24th, 2024 12:47 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Wedmore	i've activated mine twice, both times when i was approaching carpark barriers & before they'd lifted - gave me a bit of a surprise but reassuring that perhaps it does work as i have no plans to 'try it' for real. __________________ 2012 XC70 SE Lux 215hp caspian blue hers - 2013 V40cc D3 biarritz blue ex - 2008 XC70 SE Lux 185hp Electric Silver ex - 1999 V40 2.0SE ex - 1988 740 GL estate, before that a 340 GL

Oct 31st, 2022, 10:29	#2
SnineT Extrahumanestrial Last Online: Feb 13th, 2023 19:02 Join Date: Jun 2022 Location: Budapest	As you approach a bend the car will ram the brakes on when it spots a parked car on the left, that's the best and most annoying way I found it works anyway, and don't forget to check if the poor sod behind you is ok afterwards.

Oct 31st, 2022, 14:14	#4
Rocinante Master Member Last Online: May 8th, 2024 12:06 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Mystery Location	I was going to post a very similar post to Clan. If during your testing, you didn't actually crash the car, you were probably braking before the system had a chance to kick in, as it is designed to intervene at the last possible moment, and stop JUST in time. I've had my car for 7 years and put around 90,000 miles on it, (although it's an earlier, 2011 model so system could be slightly different) and only had the system engage once, when I was entering a roundabout. A car on the roundabout was coming across the front of me, and I planned to enter behind him. I was travelling quick quickly, but was anticipating the car clearing my path by the time I reached him. City safety presumably couldn't tell that the obstacle, would be out of our way before we reached it, and kicked in. It de-engaged moments later when the obstacle removed itself from my path. Big cardboard boxes in front of your car to drive in to is the only possible way to test it I think. Don't think they need to be person shaped. The other thing to mention, although it may be stating the obvious, is there are limits on when it operates: "City Safety™ is not activated at low speeds - under 4 km/h, which is why the system does not intervene in situations where a vehicle in front is being approached very slowly, e.g. when parking. Driver commands are always prioritised, which is why City Safety™ does not intervene in situations where the driver is steering or accelerating in a clear manner, even if a collision is unavoidable." The other alternative is to get you wife to try to run you over: https://www.swedespeed.com/threads/c....233897/page-2 "When we first got our first S60 I was intrigued as to how the City safety worked. So I told the Mrs to get on the driver seat while I stood on the middle of our street. I told her to let the car roll towards me and wait and see if the car would brake on its own. She was against the idea, but I told her how would we know if it works or if we can trust that function if we don't try it?. After some back and forth I convinced her to do it. Not gonna lie I was a bit scared even though the car was rolling at approx 3 mph. So as the car came closer and closer I was beginning to become a bit uneasy and started thinking this was a bad idea. When the car was about 8 inches away from me and I was about to jump out of the way the car aggressively braked! I immediately asked the Mrs. If she braked the car and said "no, look for yourself, this is cool". I went in the cabin and saw the dash, sure enough it read something along the lines of "auto braking by city safety". Stupid idea, but good outcome. At least I know on my car that feature works!"

Oct 31st, 2022, 16:23	#6
Adrian B Member Last Online: Mar 29th, 2023 23:27 Join Date: Nov 2020 Location: Worksop	Once for me as well at a carpark barrier. I agree an unnerving experience.

Oct 31st, 2022, 17:24	#9
Ulrikas PA Master Member Last Online: Jan 7th, 2024 21:44 Join Date: May 2011 Location: Ex-owner: V60 D6 Polestar	Roll on fully autonomous, sensor-reliant driving... Or perhaps not.

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