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The Future of Safety with Toyota

The Future of Safety with Toyota

by Cathy Droz, Founder – HER Certified

I can see why Toyota’s tag line is Let’s Go Places! Without a doubt, Toyota continues to improve the look and feel of their vehicles every model year. My research indicates one of the most important features a woman concerns herself with when looking to purchase a vehicle, is safety; safety for her passengers (children), herself and those around her on the road or even the driveway.

Although several manufacturers have done wonders over the years, protecting their customers with various safety packages, I believe Toyota has thought of and implemented almost everything.

For example, the first time I was introduced to intelligent parking assist was with Lexus over 12 years ago. I was fascinated and frightened, yet thrilled with the new technology never dreaming it would become a mainstay of that Luxury Japanese line. It seemed like a big hit with the ladies who have never had to park in New York where learning to parallel park is as important as knowing how to fill your tank with gasoline.

The program I attended last evening included a very interesting presentation by the regional safety team flown in from Denver for the week. They educated us on Toyota’s safety packages, accompanied with a “hands on” demonstration in the parking lot of the motorsports facility. There were a lot of acronyms thrown around last night and they may seem confusing, but it is important to know they exist; as you might move forward to purchase a Toyota in the future.

Here we go —

Toyota-Brake-Assist

Toyota Safety Sense C (TSS-C) and Safety Sense P (TSS-P) were demonstrated by professional racecar drivers and included:

Pre-Collision System (PCS) – Demo of how the system uses an in–vehicle camera and laser to help detect the vehicle in front of yours. When PCS determines the likely possibility of a frontal collision, it prompts the driver to take evasive action and brake, using an audio and visual alert. If the driver does not brake in a set time and the system determines that the possibility of a frontal collision with a preceding vehicle is extremely high, the system will automatically apply the brakes. (A little scary when your professional driver doesn’t have his foot ready on the brake and you are coming up at 30 miles an hour on the car in front that is at a dead stop.) It worked beautifully!

Intelligent Parking Assist (IPA) – We used a 2016 Toyota Prius with IPA and experienced how the car automatically controls the steering to help guide the driver into an open parking space. Very cool and improved since my experience with Lexus.

Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC) – Demonstrated how Toyota is making highway driving easier and less tiring by automatically staying within a preset speed range and maintaining a set distance away from the vehicle in front of you.

Besides these safety senses we discussed lane departure alerts, automatic high beams, in-vehicle cameras, front-grill mounted wave radar, pedestrian and vehicle detection functions, steering assist functions, nighttime driving and the list went on and on, along with the acronyms.

I believe with all the distractions the driving public has on the road, in the vehicle and hand held devices, the more help we can get keeping us within the lines, a safe distance from our neighbor and extra help with braking the safer we will be.

Maybe a new tag line… “Let’s Go More Places Safer”

Much thanks to Kurt Palisi, Dave Lee and Derek Huff for taking their safety presentation on the road.

The women of the AZ Press appreciated the warm gloves and beanie for last night’s weather.

Toyota-Women-Press-1-19-17

Note:
Acronyms or as we called them “abbreviations” in my earlier years of buying cars.
P/S Power Steering
P/B Power Brakes
MPG Miles Per Gallon
MPH Miles per Hour
A/C Air Conditioning

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