Delivering safer mobility: ten million vehicles worldwide now benefit from Toyota Safety Sense

The number of vehicles equipped with Toyota Safety Sense¹ has reached 10 million worldwide, just three and a half years since its introduction in 2015. This set of active safety technologies is designed to help prevent or mitigate collisions across a wide range of traffic scenarios and is having a positive impact on accident statistics.

Toyota Safety Sense is currently fitted to around 90 per cent of the new Toyota vehicles² sold in Europe, Japan and North America. Its availability extends to 68 different countries and regions, including China, selected Asian markets, the Middle East and Australia. In Europe, Toyota expects almost two million of its cars to feature the package by the end of this year.

The benefits of Toyota Safety Sense can be seen in a reduction³ in real-world accident figures, including around a 70 per cent drop in rear-end collisions, rising to approximately 90 per cent where it operates in conjunction with an Intelligent Clearance Sonar.

Toyota is committed to achieving a safe mobility society and believes it is important to promote an approach which involves people, vehicles and the traffic environment, as well the pursuit of “real-world safety” by learning from accidents and using that knowledge in vehicle development.

Earlier this year, Toyota rolled out the second generation of Toyota Safety Sense, moving another step closer to its ultimate goal of an automotive society with zero accidents.

Toyota Safety Sense now comprises, according to individual model and equipment grade, upgraded versions of: –

• Pre-Collision System (PCS) to help prevent or mitigate collisions with vehicles ahead; potential collisions with pedestrians in day and night-time driving; and with cyclists during the day
• Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), helping the driver to keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front
• Lane Departure Alert (LDA), to help prevent accidents and head-on collisions caused by the vehicle leaving its traffic lane
• Automatic High Beam (AHB), helping ensure excellent forward visibility during night-time driving
• Road Sign Assist (RSA), supporting drivers by ensuring they are made aware of principal road sign information

A new intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control (iACC) is also available, linking with the Road Sign Assist function. When the vehicle is travelling at a constant speed in line with the speed pre-set by the driver, and the Road Sign Assist recognises a speed limit sign, the driver can reset the vehicle speed simply by using switches on the steering wheel.

Advanced driving support is now available with Lane Tracing Assist (LTA)⁴. Combined with the Adaptive Cruise Control, this system assists the driver with steering control, making gentle inputs to keep the vehicle centred in its lane, even in gentle motorway bends.

Toyota aims to introduce the second generation Toyota Safety Sense in around 100 countries and regions by 2020.

1 Includes Lexus brand vehicles equipped with Lexus Safety System+ and Lexus Safety System+ A.

2 Calculated from orders and sales of vehicles between January and September 2018.

3 Based on independent calculations performed by Toyota using accident data from the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis (ITARDA). Figures calculated based on traffic accident occurrence rates for Toyota Safety Sense-equipped versus non-equipped Corolla, Prius, Premio and Allion vehicles (totalling 680,000 vehicles overall) between January 2015 and December 2017). Rates are reduced by approximately 90 per cent with the combination of Intelligent Clearance Sonar (Parking Support Brakes [Stationary Objects]), designed for collision avoidance and damage mitigation at ultra-low speeds.

4 Vehicles equipped with Lane Tracing Assist also support all Lane Departure Alert features.

ENDS