2024 Volvo XC40

The contact owned a 2024 Volvo XC40. The contact stated that his wife was entering a parking lot at approximately 10 MPH when she heard the vehicle engine abnormally revving and the vehicle independently accelerated. The vehicle drove through the parking lot and crashed into a tree. The contact stated that the driver's and passenger front air bags deployed, and the front collision avoidance had not engaged. The contact stated that the vehicle crashed into the tree almost at the center of the front bumper and grill. The hood had been crushed, the grill cracked, and the bumper had been torn off. The contact stated that the police arrived on scene but did not write a report since no other vehicles were involved. The contact stated that his wife had scrapes and bruises on both arms and scrapes on her nose and forehead. The wife was not attended to by EMT, but later went to the ER for neck and back pain. The vehicle was towed to an impound lot and later declared a total loss by the contact's insurance provider. The contact had contacted the manufacturer, who sent a technician to download information from the vehicle computers. The contact stated that a summary was released by the manufacturer that indicated that the crash was a driver error. The failure mileage was approximately 8,000.

On two separate occasions, brakes failed completely in snow. Vehicle did not appear to be hydroplaning, and anti-lock function did not kick-in despite the pedal being floored. Pumping had no effect either. Safety sensors around the car should have detected motion even if the wheels were locked-up and should initiate anti-lock procedures as well. Distance traveled (at low speed due to snow and heavy traffic) was well over 100 feet. Emergency stopping feature finally engaged anti-lock brakes about 1/2 second before impact. To avoid a second crash (someone two vehicles ahead caused a pileup) a year later, driver had the wherewithal (and space) to leave the roadway when brakes failed to even slow the vehicle.

There have been several times when slowly backing up when monitoring the mirrors and backup camera that the car had a very violent stop. I wasn't going fast at all and was within two feet of objects that I'm very familiar with. My old car handled backing up fine and didn't stop so violently. The warning on the old car got quicker as I got closer. This Volvo does have an increasingly rapid beep too but as you monitor the space it jerks so hard before it's really close enough to hit. This week I was backing up in a parking lot with NOTHING around me. I was still going slowly but the backup camera picked up an asphalt strip in between two cement pads and jerked so hard I have had whiplash like symptoms right after and ever since. The car stopped so hard my neck snapped back and I hit my head on the headrest. This incident was the most violent but there have been others that are too harsh for the slow moving conditions and insignificance of the objects.