India-bound Volvo V40 declared as the world's safest car

The Swedish automaker, Volvo is renowned for making some of the safest cars in the world. And when its latest hatchback, the Volvo V40 undertook the series of crash-barrier tests, carried out by Euro NCAP - the agency responsible in Europe to assess a car's safety and performance, we knew that the model will do more than just score a predictable five-start rating.

And much to our delight, the Volvo V40 apart from receiving the five-star rating has also been officially declared as the safest car that the agency has ever tested.

The Euro NCAP's testing procedure for vehicle safety involves four categories - adult occupant, child occupant, pedestrian and safety assist - and the Volvo V40 drove away with some of the top scores the agency has ever given away. It scored a 98 per cent score for its occupant protection, 75 per cent in child occupant, got a perfect score for safety assistance technology and 88 per cent in pedestrian protection. 

The Volvo V40's unusually high score has been attributed largely to the innovative pedestrian airbag that deploys from under the hood in case of a collision, minimizing injuries to pedestrians. 

Also, helping the high scores is Volvo's City Assist Emergency Braking System, which automatically stops the car in the instance of an imminent collision; Lane Keeping Aid, which helps the driver stay within his or her lane and BLIS, which helps the driver detect vehicles in the rear 'blind spot.'

The V40 five-door hatchback that will be first introduced in the European market by the end of 2012 and could land on the Indian shores by 2013. Once launched, the V40 is expected to give the Audi A3 Sportback, BMW X1 and the Mercedes Benz B-Class a run for their respective euros.