An unrivalled safety accolade from Euro NCAP for the Toyota Prius

The Prius has been awarded Euro NCAP five-star rating for occupant safety. This achievement is underpinned by three firsts that set the Toyota Prius as far ahead of its competitors in terms of safety as it is in providing performance, fuel economy and environmental leadership.

First in class

Euro NCAP, the European New Car Assessment Programme, gave the Toyota Prius a 34-point rating, equalling the highest score ever recorded in its class. Euro NCAP was established to provide consumers with rigourous and trustworthy independent safety assessments http://www.euroncap.com

First hybrid car ever tested

Other manufacturers have cars that have achieved the five-star rating, but Toyota now has three vehicles that qualify for the top award: Avensis; Corolla Verso and Prius. What is more, the Toyota Prius is the first hybrid car in the world to undergo Euro NCAP’s stringent tests.

First car ever to achieve 43 points for child protection

Euro NCAP recently introduced a new rating for child protection. Thanks in part to the Prius’ standard three-anchor point Child Restraint System and intelligent child seat design, this vehicle set a record of 43 points and four stars.

Designed with safety in mind

Safety of this standard is not achieved by adding safety features to a car after it has been designed. With the Prius, as with other Toyota cars, safeity is from the start a main design criteria.

As each electronic draft for the bodyshell was arrived at, it underwent sophisticated computer crash test simulations. Hundreds were carried out before the designers achieved the optimum balance between low weight and crash protection.

Another world first

Unprecedented quantities of High Strength Steel were then used in the construction of the Prius bodyshell. Certain key stress points were even manufactured with Ultra High Strength Steel - which is two and half times stronger still. This is the first time this new material has been used in the auto industry.

Ahead of the safety standards

Along with computerised crash test simulations, the Toyota Prius was also put through an intensive programme of 125 real crash tests. Few other manufacturers go to such lengths with a new model.

Toyota looks for ‘real world’ safety concerns, such as collisions between vehicles of different weights and sizes. These are the most common types of accident in Europe. For your protection, the Prius was tested against the far larger Toyota Land Cruiser in front, rear and side impact situations.

As you’d expect, the Toyota Prius also comes with a high level of safety equipment as standard: eight airbags; Toyota’s unique dual-stage seatbelt warning system; knee protection panel; Whiplash Injury Lessening seat design; centrally-mounted hybrid battery and Circuit Break Sensor; plus a plastic multiplex fuel tank that can survive a 50 km/h rear impact.

Safety features that put you in control

These passive safety features are accompanied by state-of-the-art active safety features that give you class-leading control of the vehicle:

• By-wire Electronically Controlled Braking providing optimal braking performance;
• Unique Electric Traction Control that’s so quick drivers often don’t even notice its intervention;
• Vehicle Stability Control Plus, the world’s most innovative stability control system.

Why wait for new ideas?

The new Toyota Prius is an idea that cannot wait. More than that, it’s the culmination of a huge number of ideas in all aspects of its design that you no longer have to wait for. To learn more about other new ideas built into the Prius, look at the related links in the top right hand side of this page.