6 Top Toyota Safety Features

Toyota is one of the leading manufacturers in vehicle safety that earns awards and high safety ratings year after year from organizations dedicated to keeping drivers safe on the road. All Toyota vehicles come standard with the Star Safety System, which is a suite of six safety systems that protect drivers and occupants in collisions.

Check out the following six top Toyota safety features that make up the Star Safety System, and rest assured you and your passengers will be kept safe and protected on the road when driving a Toyota.

1. Traction Control

Traction Control reads data from your vehicle’s wheel-speed sensors to determine whether a drive wheel is turning faster than the wheel on the opposite side, which indicates loss of traction. Upon detecting slippage, this feature automatically reduces engine power until the wheel that’s slipping slows down and regains traction. When reducing engine power doesn’t help, the vehicle’s braking system slows the wheel by pulsing the brake for that particular wheel.

2. Anti-lock Brake System

Toyota’s Anti-lock Brake System prevents brakes from locking up and your vehicle from dangerously skidding when you lose control of your vehicle. This feature uses magnetic wheel-speed sensors and a computer to recognize when your vehicle locks up or loses traction, then forces your brakes to pulse until all wheels are rolling at the same speed.

3. Brake Assist

Brake Assist detects when you suddenly hit the brakes in an emergency and applies force and extra brake pressure to help you slow down or stop at a faster rate. This feature is helpful at preventing collisions, and can even be activated when the vehicle detects you’re stepping on the brakes too lightly.

4. Smart Stop Technology

This feature automatically reduces your vehicle’s engine power in the event you push down on both the brake and accelerator pedals at the same time, or when the gas pedal becomes jammed and braking fails to work. Smart Stop Technology helps keep occupants safe when it’s necessary to bring your Toyota to an immediate stop.

5. Electronic Brake-Force Distribution

Part of Toyota’s Anti-lock Brake System, this feature redistributes brake force evenly across all wheels to compensate for uneven weight distribution under hard, sudden braking. Electronic Brake-Force Distribution helps you maintain control of your vehicle by reducing brake pressure on wheels supporting the least amount of weight.

6. Vehicle Stability Control

When your vehicle starts navigating in the opposite direction in which you’re steering, Vehicle Stability Control reduces engine power and pulses the right or left-side brakes so your vehicle returns to steering in the proper direction. The system uses data from the Anti-lock Brake System and steering wheel sensor to determine whether the vehicle is steering properly, then automatically corrects the situation.

If vehicle safety is one of your top concerns when purchasing a new vehicle, stop by your local Toyota dealership to learn more about the Star Safety System. Optional safety features available on most Toyota models include pre-collision technology, blind spot monitor, lane departure alert, and more.

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