Take a glance on the photo above, and guess what happens next. Does that huge, cab-over semi truck plow into the cargo hatch of the Volvo V70 and wreck carnage with its passenger cell, or does it avoid a collision all together The reply, surprisingly, is the latter — and largely due to a brand new emergency braking feature Volvo Trucks (no corporate relation to Volvo Cars) is rolling out on its heavy-duty trucks.

Consider Volvo Trucks’ Collision Warning with Emergency Brake system a heavier-duty version of Volvo Cars’ City Safety system. CWEB uses both radar sensors and a forward-facing camera to mind the roadway in advance of the motive force. If something – slow or stopped traffic, let’s say — is detected sooner than the vehicle, a warning inside the head-up display illuminates. If the truck continues forward, that display flashes and chirps on the driver. If the truck still continues forward, it applies partial brake pressure to slow the vehicle. If the motive force still refrains from intervening, the truck can then apply full brake pressure to bring the truck to a whole halt. Volvo says it should avoid colliding with moving traffic at quickens to 44 mph.

As neat as that will sound, seeing it in action is…well, stunning. The truck – thus, a brand spankin’ new FH Globetrotter – races towards a drawback, senses it, and applies its own brakes. Extra drama comes courtesy of the big cab, which shimmies slightly on its air-sprung mounts while handling the sudden (and rapid) deceleration. Making this much more impressive is the very fact the truck’s trailer is loaded to its 40-ton gross carrying weight rating.

But wait: there’s more. Volvo Truck engineers repeat the demonstration, but this time, they replace the static obstacle with a live (and presumably quite fearless) driver in a V70 wagon. Although the FH appears ready and willing to eat the V70 whole, the system does its part and slams at the brakes in time to permit the white wagon to maintain on rolling. The view from in the cab is equally dramatic, especially because the V70 all but disappears from the driver’s line of sight.

For now, Volvo Trucks’ Collision Warning with Emergency Brake system is barely available within the new FH, that is seemingly available in most markets Volvo sells heavy-duty trucks in…except, needless to say, North America. Volvo could be one of the most first to market this kind of system, however won’t be the last: because the truck maker notes, European regulations will mandate emergency braking systems in all new trucks by 2015.

Source: Volvo