The policeman was right. I was speeding. I have an explanation, which is not the same as an acceptable excuse. Nor is it meant to be. But it is the truth. I had slipped into the Joy Zone.

It is a hazard inherent in the operation of an exceptional automobile, which was the case that crisp November morning when I was driving the 2011 Volvo XC60 R-Design wagon in Virginia.

How ironic!

I was driving one of the world’s safest vehicles. Yet I ran into a speeding ticket that will cost me $200.

I am tempted to blame distraction, the cause of 90 percent of our nation’s traffic accidents, especially in urban areas. But seduction is much closer to the truth.

I was seduced, snookered, suckered by the smoothness of the new XC60’s turbocharged 3-liter in-line six-cylinder engine — 300 horsepower, 325 foot-pounds of torque. That’s 19 more horsepower and 30 foot-pounds more torque than was available in the 2010 version of that engine.

But I can’t really blame those power increases, either. Many cars have high-horsepower, high-torque engines. There is little about them, however, to lure you into the Joy Zone.

That zone is a special place, where driver and car become one. Only the finest cars can take you there. You think. Limbs move. The car goes. It is a machine totally in sync with human movement and emotion.

The better it performs, the better you feel, until reality intrudes.

I am lucky that intrusion came in the form of a speeding ticket. Other motorists aren’t as fortunate. Their Joy Zone leads to injury, or death. I’ll take the fine, thank you very much.

But the irony remains vexing. The XC60 R-Design wagon is rock-solid safe. For example, it is available with an optional Volvo-patented technology, “City Safe.” At 18 mph or below, an infrared detection system automatically slows or stops the wagon if a stationery or slowing vehicle, or human being, is detected in its path.

City Safe can be turned off in congested traffic where automatically stopping to avoid striking a vehicle in front of you can cause another motorist to slam into your rear end.

Nothing’s perfect. But I appreciate Volvo’s effort to put as much safety into its cars and wagons as possible. Other XC60 technology, such as an audible lane-departure warning system, represents a successful attempt by Volvo to improve on safety systems introduced by rivals. Ditto the XC60’s available blind-side warning system, which can prevent motorists from swerving into unseen (by the human eye) trailing traffic.

It’s all good stuff. But it is absent an important complement — my proposed Joy Zone Warning Device. It seems only fair that such technology be included in the XC60, considering that Volvo has gone out of its way to make the wagon accelerate and handle in the manner of a well-engineered sports car.

The Joy Zone Warning Device would detect dangerous fantasy levels, such as when a motorist, lost in the wow-zee of it all, exits a high-speed expressway and enters a more speed-restricted city street. It could issue dumbbell or knucklehead alerts, something like “Hey, knucklehead, slow down! You’re on a city street. Slow down!”

I’d happily pay a couple of hundred bucks or more for that system. Heck, I’m paying for it anyway.

Bottom line

Lesson learned — one of the safest cars in the world is only as safe as its driver. Driving, particularly speed monitoring, is a full-attention job.

Ride, acceleration and handling: You have to drive this one to believe it. The Volvo XC60 R-Design wagon (the all-wheel-drive T6 version XC60 with 20-inch-diameter wheels and sports chassis) gets superior marks in all three.

Capacities: Seats for five people. Maximum cargo capacity is 67 cubic feet. Fuel capacity is 18.5 gallons of gasoline. Volvo says regular is fine for both its turbo and non-turbo engines. I tried full tanks of regular and premium gasoline in the T6 R-Design I drove. The wagon performed nicely with regular. It did discernibly better with premium.

Safety: Standard equipment includes front and rear ventilated disc brakes, emergency braking assistance, electronic brake-force distribution, anti-lock braking assistance, electronic stability and traction control, xenon high-intensity discharge lights, tire-pressure monitoring, and side and head air bags.