A commitment to save lives and reduce highway injuries prompted Toyota to announce it would make automatic emergency braking standard on nearly every model and trim level of Toyota and Lexus models by the end of 2017. This is four years ahead of ta2022 industry target announced last week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aka NHTSA.
“High-level driver assist technologies can do more than help protect people in the event of a crash; they can help prevent some crashes from ever happening in the first place,” said Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota Motors North America. He was speaking at a conference launching the 2016 New York Auto Show.
Last year at the New York Auto Show Toyota introduced automatic braking on the Rav4 and a limited number of models. Ten manufacturers have also pledged to put automatic braking and other safety features on mass market vehicles.
NHTSA is now actively promoting and ultimately requiring automatic emergency braking or AEB.
The need for automatic braking was pronounced in a fiery crash on a freeway outside Detroit in November 2014. Kayla White, driving a 2003 Jeep Liberty in her third trimester of pregnancy was hit from behind by a distracted driver in a 2002 Cadillac who couldn’t brake soon enough. She burned to death from the rollover and subsequent fire. Throughout the nation, 44,000 Americans die in highway accidents each year and many more injured. (See: Chrysler Challenges Nader, Center for Auto Safety, Disputing Need for a Jeep Grand Cherokee Recall for Rear Impact Fires or NHTSA Whacks Chrysler with Record $105m Safety Penalty, Chrysler Finally Agrees to Fix Jeep Fuel Systems after a Long NHTSA Probe and Formal Recall Request)
Automatic breaking has been a feature of luxury cars for years. Now the time has come as automakers see this as the kind of technology that consumers would trade their old models to be safer behind the wheel in new vehicles. Toyota offers a range of safety features on its newest models.
Lexus Safety System and Toyota Safety Sense are designed to help address three key areas of driver assistance: preventing or mitigating frontal collisions – including pedestrians; helping keep drivers within their lane; and enhancing road safety during nighttime driving. Technologies include pre-collision System, lane departure alert, and automatic high beams.
Twenty-five out of thirty Lexus and Toyota models will include Lexus Safety System or Toyota Safety Sense as standard equipment. Model-specific target dates for offering these advanced, active safety packages as standard equipment will be announced at a later date.
Some Toyota Models excluded from AEB
Models that will not offer the systems standard by the end of 2017 include Lexus GX, Toyota Mirai, 4Runner, Scion iA (developed by Mazda), Scion Xd (Toyota joint venture). Mirai and Scion iA currently provide pre-collision including AEB as standard equipment.
The NHTSA will mandate automatic braking on all new vehicles by 2022. About 60% of new vehicle models include frontal crash prevention as standard or optional equipment right now.
Last spring, ten manufacturers committed to making automatic emergency braking, or AEB, as standard equipment on all new vehicles built. Audi, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo – will work with IIHS and NHTSA on the details of implementing the safety technology, including the timeline for making AEB a standard feature.
