WHAT CAR AWARDS - Volvo, unsurprisingly takes the Safety Award with the new XC90 Sports Utility Vehicle.

• Volvo XC90 wins Safety Award at the What Car? Awards 2016
• Seven-seat SUV praised for its world-first crash-prevention aids
• Automatic emergency braking with cyclist and pedestrian detection is standard on every XC90

The Volvo XC90 has won What Car?’s Safety Award at a prestigious ceremony held at the Grosvenor House hotel, Park Lane, London on Wednesday 13^th January 2016.

The XC90 beat competition from Audi, BMW, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz to claim the coveted award, and was praised for its world-first safety features, such as Run-off Road Protection, which automatically tightens the seatbelts and has energy-absorbing front seats to help prevent spinal injuries.

Another world first is automatic emergency braking at a junction, which will apply the brakes to stop or help prevent an accident if you inadvertently turn into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

This is on top of the other standard safety technologies, such as City Safety, which can help to avoid or mitigate collisions with pedestrians, cyclists or other vehicles day or night, and the driver alert and lane-departure warning systems.

Jim Holder, What Car? Editorial Director, said: “The Volvo XC90 is far from the cheapest car on the Safety Award shortlist, but it is by far the best. Indeed, the Swedish SUV is the safest car ever tested by Euro NCAP, and it includes several cutting-edge features that even the organisation itself doesn’t currently have ratings for. It is, quite simply, the safest car on sale today and a thoroughly deserving winner of this award.”

Nick Connor, Managing Director of Volvo Car UK, added: “This award is yet more proof that Volvo is at the forefront of automotive safety – in fact, it is our vision that no-one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo by 2020. The XC90’s innovative IntelliSafe safety features are designed to keep you, your family and other road users safe from harm – and the fact that this technology is fitted as standard to every XC90 means that you don’t have to pay a penny extra to get the safest car on the road.”