May’s Memory trip

When I was twelve, my parents made a big change. We moved from the middle of the country to Zeeland. I remember how the XXL moving truck drove south and we followed in our light green Volvo 760 GLE (which was really the pinnacle back then, you know). At an intersection near Kruiningen, we were stopped by the police because of a rather unusual U-turn. We didn't know the way by heart yet, and my mother felt a bit uncomfortable because the entire trunk was filled with silverware and cash. Try explaining that you are moving and prefer to transport your valuable belongings yourself.

The Volvo and Zeeland are two important landmarks from my youth. After the GLE, another Swedish friend came along, who took me from Wemeldinge to Goes many times when it rained so hard that my mother couldn't handle seeing me bike over the locks at 07:30.

Last week, those two elements unexpectedly came together when Volvo Car Netherlands invited me for a charity road trip. During this ride, we not only took a random trip down memory lane, but also visited their community partners – organizations that, like Volvo, strive for a safer world. We were guests at the Royal Dutch Rescue Society in Stellendam – my brother used to surf there all the time – for an activity with volunteers, and we received a braking distance demo and a crash course on braking from Veilig Verkeer Nederland. Through these visits, we quietly raised a nice amount of money, which we handed over at the end of the day to TrafVic Kids. The goal of TrafVic Kids is to develop specialized support for children who have lost a loved one in a traffic accident.

Well, I was really driving straight down my memory lane in my fully electric EX40 Volvo. A wonderful car that still embodies the classic Volvo values of safety, family, and reliability, but has undergone a significant glow-up, as my daughters would say.
The car is no longer boxy, but has organic shapes and an interior that feels like a warm living room. Volvo has kept up with the times: in addition to being reliable and safe, sustainability has become an important pillar, as evidenced by the large number of electric and plug-in hybrids. There is also no shortage of innovations. For example, “my” Volvo had one-pedal drive, where the accelerator pedal also functions as a brake pedal. Do you find that annoying? Then you can simply turn it off. I also really enjoyed the Harman Kardon audio system.

In the meantime, I learned more about what safety means for Volvo. Their ambition is to strive for zero collisions, with the ultimate goal of zero fatalities or serious injuries in traffic. Volvo designed the three-point seatbelt, the safety cage, and of course equips their cars with airbags. Not long ago, it turned out that many car brands only conduct crash tests with male dummies of average height and weight, which means that airbags are not optimally tested for women and children. Volvo does this – and even shares their findings publicly so that other car brands can benefit from their knowledge. Volvo also does not produce cars that can drive faster than 180 kilometers per hour. Why would they? You can't drive that anywhere, and it's just dangerous. Everything revolves around safety.

Because safe materials are just one side of the coin, we received a braking distance demonstration from Veilig Verkeer Nederland. That made me suddenly understand why that 30 km/h limit in built-up areas is so important. The braking distance at 50 km/h is four times longer than at 30 km/h.
I wish I had known that when I was 23 and braked just a bit too late on the Larenseweg, giving the car in front of me a solid kiss. But well, that was in an Alfa Romeo. In a Volvo, that probably wouldn't have happened.