Travel Safely with Volvo

Welcome from Volvo - the headline sponsor of The Baby Show

Volvo Car UK is delighted to sponsor The Baby Show once again in 2008. With a modern range of cars that are versatile and family-friendly, as well as a renowned reputation for being at the forefront of safety technology, Volvo is the ideal car company to sponsor The Baby Show.

Volvo and Safety

"Cars are driven by people. The guiding principle behind everything we make at Volvo, therefore, is – and must remain – safety," said Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson, founders of Volvo in the early 1930s.

Volvo's safety philosophy is based on a holistic approach which sees real life accident data incorporated in new car designs and tested at Volvo's Safety Centre in Sweden – the most advanced in the world.

In an increasingly busy traffic environment, Volvo's latest aids to safety, BLIS (Blind Spot Information System) and IDIS (Intelligent Driver Information System) are designed to help prevent accidents happening at all.

Travelling during pregnancy

Volvo has developed the world’s first pregnant crash test dummy model so its experts can learn more about the impacts of the seat belt and airbag on a mother and unborn baby in car accidents. The crash test dummy, named “Linda” by the experts at Volvo’s Safety Centre in Sweden, helps Volvo study how the seat belt moves and its combined influence with the airbag on the uterus, placenta and baby, as well has how the baby moves in relation to Linda’s body. Linda is a computer simulation so she can be changed to represent a pregnant woman of any size or shape, at all stages of pregnancy.

Laura Thackray, a Biomechanical Engineer at Volvo’s Safety Centre says “Your seatbelt should fit close to the body, go between the breasts and as low as possible over your hips. The lap section of the belt shouldn’t be allowed to ride up in front of your tummy.”

Safety for Children

Volvo Cars was also the first car manufacturer to develop crash-test child-safety components to optimise protection for the most important members of your family.

Small children's neck muscles are not fully developed, plus their heads are proportionately heavier to the rest of their body, so are at least risk facing the rear of the car instead of facing forward when travelling.

Volvo's child-safety system offers two rear facing seats using ISOFIX mounting points. For newborn babies up to 13kg there is a Britax Baby-Safe Plus seat and for infants up to the age of three (3-18 kg) is a Fixaway seat. The seat acts as an extra safety cage, while at the same time reducing the force of a collision. Specially designed panels offer protection in a side-impact accident.

Children aged three to about ten (15-36 kg) sit in safety on the rear seat on a booster cushion. This ensures that the seat belt is in the correct position across a child's body for the best possible protection in the event of an accident. Moreover, the child has a more elevated position from which to enjoy the view.

Many Volvo models are available with an integrated booster cushion, which literally makes it child’s play to transform a regular seat at the back of the car to a safer place for children.

Volvo and the environment

Volvo is an environmentally responsible car company from production through to the car's end of life and constantly aims to make a contribution to improving air quality as well as ensuring its products cause minimal environmental impact.

Volvo was the first car manufacturer in the world to introduce environmental product declaration (EPD). Volvo Cars’ EPD is based on an holistic approach with the emphasis on health, resource utilisation and ecological consequences. It gives the car buyer an overview of the environmental impact of the car from production, through use, to scrapping, making it easier to compare the eco performance of Volvo’s various models and engine alternatives.

Interior Air Quality

All Volvo models have been developed so that the air inside of the car is clean and healthy for its passengers. A cabin pollen filter and Electronic Climate Control are standard equipment. This system automatically removes impurities and odours from the incoming air and makes the interior air cleaner than the air outside the car.

All the materials that are used to make the interior (seats, dashboard etc) have been selected and tested not to cause known allergic reactions and reduce the risk for other known health problems that can be caused by interior materials.

The Volvo V50 Sportswagon

Volvo will display its award winning V50 Sportswagon on its stand and a selection of other models on display elsewhere at The Baby Show. The Volvo V50 offers a premium brand experience with sporty driving characteristics and the flexibility of extra load space. And, being a Volvo, the V50 Sportswagon offers the reassurance of an abundance of advanced safety features plus slick Scandinavian design including a unique, ultra-thin centre stack in the dashboard.

Find out more

To find out more about all the design and safety features on Volvo cars, visit them at the Out & About Brand Showcase at The Baby Shows or go to www.volvocars.co.uk