Following a Top Safety Pick+ from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the 2016 Toyota Prius impressed the peeps at Euro NCAP. The fourth generation of the Prius fared so well in all crash situations, Euro NCAP awarded it a 5-star rating.
The no-cost Toyota Safety Sense suite of safety systems effectively recognizes a potential crash with a pedestrian or a car. As such, the decision to offer an autonomous braking system as standard equipment in the Prius has helped the eco-friendly model achieve a 5-star safety rating. Not everything is perfect, though.
In the frontal offset test, the Prius’ passenger compartment remained stable. Readings from the crash test dummies showed good protection of the knees and femurs of the driver and passenger alike. However, chest protection for the driver was rated as marginal. In the full-width rigid barrier frontal crash test, protection was rated as good except for a possible injury to the driver’s chest.
In the side barrier test, the Prius scored maximum points because it offers good protection of all body areas. In the side pole test, on the other hand, dummy readings of lateral rib compression indicated weak protection for the chest. Regarding whiplash protection, the head restraints of the front seats demonstrated good protection in the event of a rear-end collision. The same applies for the rear-seat head restraints.
Toyota is so chuffed about the crashworthiness of the fourth-gen Prius that the Japanese manufacturer forgot to mention how the Prius failed in some areas. Check the press release attached below these paragraphs and try to find anything about potential injuries to the driver's chest area. Coincidence? I think not.
As a refresher, the 2016 Toyota Prius is priced at £23,295 in the United Kingdom and €28,150 in Germany. By comparison, the U.S. model holds a suggested retail price of $24,200 sans the destination charge.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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