Volvo has a bit of a bad track record with its automatic assistance systems and demonstrations for the press and public.
The latest demonstration, involving an XC60 and its city safety pedestrian-avoidance feature, ended up with two men getting run over.
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Fortunately the men are alright, according to Remolacha, which posted the video of the incident from the Dominican Republic.
According to Remolacha, the demonstrators forgot to turn on the “City Safe” mode--which, as reader Tom McMillan points out in the comments below, is a bit of an oddity, since the City Safe function is enabled by default upon startup. Perhaps the system was disabled to show it wouldn't intervene, but the demonstrator forgot to re-engage it, or attempted but failed to do so improperly. Worse still for the demonstrator here, the vehicle doesn't even appear to be equipped with the necessary safety equipment in the first place--though we have to wonder why that vehicle would be chosen for a demonstration at all, if so.
It certainly was not safe, at any rate.
Those who pay attention to such blunders will recall Volvo’s previous “oops” when attempting to demonstrate the automatic braking system to the press on the S60 back in 2010.
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The result of that snafu was thankfully less injurious to humans, ending only with an unoccupied car smashed into the back of a semi truck.
