• by Tanya Gazdik , June 9, 2017

Volvo Cars tells an emotionally provocative story of how technology saves lives in a long-form video for the XC60.

The three-minute film on YouTube follows a young girl’s journey to her first day at a new school and shows a glimpse of what life holds for her in the coming years — growing up, traveling the world, settling down and raising a family. 

All of this comes to an abrupt stop as the girl steps out in front of an oncoming Volvo car. The Volvo’s safety system detects the girl and applies its autonomous emergency brake, preventing what could have been a life-changing collision. The film ends with “Sometimes the moments that never happen matter the most.”

The creative aims to capture the essence of how advanced safety technology has the power to change the lives of people both in and around the car. 

Over 1.2 million people die in traffic accidents around the globe each year, but Volvo believes its vision of an injury- and fatality-free future can soon be a reality, according to the automaker. Ninety-four percent of all accidents are caused by human factors. By using advanced safety technology Volvo believes it can help to reduce the human factor in traffic accidents.

Volvo Cars presented several new safety features with the launch of the new XC60. A steer support functionality has been added to Volvo’s City Safety autonomous emergency braking system, while a new system, Oncoming Lane Mitigation, uses steer assist to help mitigate head-on collisions. Volvo’s Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) has also been updated with a steer assist function to reduce the risk of lane-changing collisions.

“Safety is at the heart of everything we do at Volvo Cars. It always has been and it always will be,” said Björn Annwall, senior vice president global consumer experience at Volvo Car Group, in a release. “With this film we hope to remind people why we continue to focus on car safety, and how important it is for us all."

The film was created by the agency Forsman & Bodenfors. It is posted on Volvo's Facebook, YouTube and Instagram pages.