The majority of car accidents are caused by vehicle-on-vehicle collisions, traffic lane departures, and limited night visibility. Toyota has taken these statistics into consideration during the development of its Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) package, which is a suite that consists of advanced safety and driver-assist technologies. What really impresses is that most new Toyota vehicles
feature this safety suite as standard equipment. Here is some more info on the different technologies included with the TSS suite.
- Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection
The pre-collision system with pedestrian detection is designed to minimize the rate of potential collisions with other vehicles actually materializing. This technology uses an in-vehicle camera and a radar sensor to detect when a frontal collision is possible or likely. It then alerts the driver with audio and visual alerts, and if the driver doesn’t respond, automatically applies the brakes in order to reduce speed and hopefully avoid a frontal collision, or at least minimize the severity of the impact.
- Lane Departure Alert
With the lane departure warning system, the driver is alerted when the system detects that the vehicle has drifted outside of the lane. This system only works on roads with clear lane markings and at speeds that exceed 32 mph. If you have purchased a Toyota with electric power steering, the lane departure system will be complemented by the steering assist system that will auto-correct unintentional drifting.
- Automatic High Beams
Night-time driving can be stressful, as your vision isn’t only limited but you can also be blinded by oncoming traffic. The automatic high beam system uses the in-vehicle camera to assess the brightness of oncoming headlights, as well as preceding taillights, and then adjusts the high and low beams accordingly to afford you better vision without distracting other drivers.
- Dynamic Radar Cruise Control
Instead of the driver having to constantly concentrate on maintaining a safe distance from the preceding vehicle, the dynamic radar cruise control system will automatically adjust the speed of the car to maintain a preset distance range. If the preceding vehicle slows down or stops, the system will automatically slow down or stop your vehicle too, and will automatically accelerate to a preset speed again when the preceding vehicle speeds up.
- Road Sign Assist
Road sign assist works in tandem with the in-vehicle camera to display road-sign information on the dash meter display. The system will display the sign, its category, and provide information to help you interpret the sign correctly. This new system is currently only available in selected countries.
It doesn’t matter how diligent you are as a driver; at some point, you’ll inevitably lose focus or make a silly mistake. Or somebody else on the same road as you will. It is in times like these that the Toyota Safety Sense suite may just save your life. And as stated before, this advanced safety suite is now incorporated as a standard feature in most new Toyota models and trims. If you want to test the efficacy of the various TSS systems for yourself, pop in at Atlantic Toyota and take a few models for a spin.
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