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Everyone is hanging out for Christmas and a break this year, probably more than any other, but it's also a time people need to keep safe both on and off the water.
Volvo are big supporters of yachting and boating in New Zealand and are constantly looking for ways to make the lives of Kiwis safer.
They were heavily criticised for introducing a three-point safety belt in 1959 but it's something that's gone on to save more than one million lives.
Volvo are now taking another bold step, introducing a speed cap of 180km/h on all of their vehicles and are also looking at how smart speed control and geofencing technology could automatically limit speeds near schools and hospitals in the future.
On top of that, they've recently introduced the ability for owners to put a self-determined speed cap on the car when lending it to younger family members or less experienced drivers and Volvo are also working on driver monitoring cameras that will allow the car to intervene when a clearly intoxicated or distracted driver is behind the wheel. You can find out more about Volvo cars and their safety initiatives here.
As well as supporting various regattas and events, Volvo also offer discounts of up to 10 percent on selected new models to Yachting New Zealand member card and app users. You can find out more about the offers here and more about the member card and app and range of discounts here.
A Volvo can help get you to the water safely but yachties and boaties are reminded to ensure they have appropriate lifejackets when they take to the water. The latest figures from Maritime New Zealand show 1.7 million Kiwis, or almost 45 percent of the adult population, are now out on the water and using an increasingly diverse array of water craft.
Coastguard are once again running their Old4New lifejacket upgrade campaign for five weeks over December and January when people have the opportunity to trade in their old lifejackets for a great discount on a range of new, modern, fit-for-purpose Hutchwilco lifejackets.
You can read more about the Old4New lifejacket upgrade campaign here.
