I bet if you asked a group of woman what they thought about Volvos, safety would be the first thing they came up with.

Now while Volvo has moved forward in leaps and bounds with their styling (think about the very sexy looking C30), having left their boxy image far behind, one image they don’t want to change is their world-renowned reputation for safety.

So their all new S60 is not only stylish – a coupe with sporty overtones, extremely comfortable and a joy to drive, it also has some amazing safety features. So even if you might not be able to afford one for yourself,  you’ll be hoping that other people might.

Pedestrian detection: In the ideal world, people would actually adhere to speed limits, especially around town, but should the unthinkable happen and a child runs out in your path then often our reactions are too slow. This is when pedestrian detection comes into play.

I was given the opportunity to experience this first-hand, the pedestrian thankfully being a dummy. At 15 mph, the car detected the ‘pedestrian’ and slammed on the brakes for me, stopping inches away from the dummy. I had been given a warning light and noise immediately beforehand, at which point it is hoped that a driver would react.

All this is achieved by a radar at the front of the car detecting distance and a camera at the top of the windscreen which detects a pedestrian’s pattern of movement.

If you are going faster the same thing happens, the brakes are applied, the car has been slowed dramatically and now a certain death becomes more likely an injury (the poor dummy did get thrown at this point).

The S60, an executive saloon, is more than likely to have a family man or woman behind the wheel so to me this would be a very appealing optional extra despite the £1,250 price tag (for which you also get blind spot and lane departure warning, a driver alert control which warns the driver if their driving patterns change perhaps due to tiredness or distraction, and active bi-xenon lights) on top of the basic price of £23, 295.

So apart from these very special options, why might your exec choose this over the more traditional saloons of this class such as the Audi A4 or BMW 3 Series? Well it’s different for a start, great to drive, stylish, has a lovely rear window and every one seems to come with a work of art as standard in the form of the central console.

My only gripe? Where is the foot rest for the left foot?

So, if you want to stand out from the crowd in one of the world’s safest cars but which now also has the style to match the S60 might just fit the bill. All they need to do now is make the Wallander ring-tone more easily available…