Gothenburg, Sweden  - The Volvo S60 is the first saloon in the range from the Swedish maker to be fitted with a groundbreaking warning system which helps prevents collisions with pedestrians.

The next generation technology has a function which can detect a pedestrian who has walked into the road. A red light flashes on the dashboard and if the driver fails to react in time it automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision, at speeds below 25 kilometres an hour.

The Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake and Pedestrian Safety package is already fitted to the XC60 compact offroader.

The new system consists of a dual-mode radar unit integrated into the car's grille, a camera behind the inside rear-view mirror and a central control unit. The radar and camera continuously monitor the road in front of the car. The radar detects objects and measures the distance to them while the camera determines what type of objects they are.

"We've been working on this technology for ten years now. We have had test cars out on the roads for several years and we've driven in many different countries," said Volvo's Thomas Broberg.

The upgraded City Safety package can also activate the car brakes automatically if the driver fails to respond in time when the vehicle in front slows down or stops. If the relative difference between the speeds of the two vehicles is less than 15 kilometres an hour, the collision is avoided entirely. If the speed difference is between 15 and 30 kilometres an hour, the speed of impact is lowered to reduce the severity of the collision and its consequences. (dpa)