Not all vehicles contain such advanced safety features, but the last week IIHS and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced an unprecedented agreement between 10 manufacturers to soon provide the potential life-saving systems as standard equipment on their cars.

Volvo made a name for itself decades ago by being safety-obsessed – long before it was in vogue to do so. In fact, the was able to XC90 avoid collisions altogether in IIHS track tests at 12 miles per hour and 25 miles per hour.

That’s the top accolade possible from the IIHS, and it corresponds to what the Institute calls “stellar ratings for crash protection and for its standard front crash protection system”. The previous version of the XC90 started at $40,625, including a $925 destination charge; the 2016 model starts at $50,795 with a $995 destination charge. The report says “Intrusion of less than 2 inches at all measured points in the driver’s seating space, the dummy’s movement was well-controlled and the front and side curtain airbags worked well together to protect the head”.

The 2016 Lexus ES is merely a mid-cycle update, however Toyota included several structural revisions to improve performance in the small-overlap test. Modifications focused on the front end, A-pillar, roof rail, door hinge pillar and door sill.

There’s a new generation of vehicles to be built on this so-called sclable product architecture (SPA) that underpins the latest XC90; that’s a good sign for the all-new S90 flagship sedan due to be revealed at next January’s Detroit Auto Show, and slated to go on sale in time for the 2017 model year.

It’s these sorts of technological advances that will not only keep Volvo owners safer on the road but everyone else as well. There are also countless additional options and technologies.

The Forward Collision Warning and Autonomous Emergency Braking systems are just two in a suite of driver safety systems offered by Volkswagen.

In an announcement that caught absolutely no one off-guard, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has named the 2016 Volvo XC90 to its list of vehicles earning the organization’s Top Safety Pick+ (TSP) designation.