Matrix, Corolla and Safety

Matrix, Corolla and Safety

We’re pleased to note that in recent crash tests of small cars, our Matrix earned the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety’s highest rating in side and frontal crashes. Matrix was one of just two vehicles tested that earned the top rating in side crashes.

This side-crash testing is important, according to an IIHS spokesperson, because more than 8,000 people were killed in 2007 as a result of side-impact crashes. Such accidents happen when vehicles collide front-to-door, impacting at 90 degrees, as they might do in an intersection.More than 14,500 people died in frontal crashes, according to the IIHS.

Our Corolla and Scion xB earned the IIHS’s "Top Safety Pick" rating in this year’s small-car testing. Both were given top marks in front, side and rear impacts, and both are available with Electronic Stability Control (ESC), which the IIHS calls, "the most important safety feature a car can have." It also notes that ESC is one of today’s automotive features that is least familiar to drivers.

When our ESC systems detect the presence of a skid, they manage braking on individual wheels, and also throttle application, to help minimize the loss of traction in turns.


It’s a bit of electronic wizardry that is available on a number of our vehicles.


- Jon F. Thompson, Editor, Open Road
www.blog.toyota.com