Toyota has captured the future in airbag technology. Just when you thought you couldn’t add more airbags to a vehicle (besides your mother-in-law), the Japanese automaker went a step further and added airbags to the exterior of the vehicle.
That’s right. I said Toyota is working on a concept that has airbags on the OUTSIDE of the vehicle. At first, it sounds strange. But these airbags are on the front of the car in hopes of protecting pedestrians in the event of an accident. The new airbags are strategically places – one on the front of the hood and one at the base of the windshield – to protect the waist and head area of a pedestrian when hit head-on by a car.
In addition to that, the driver also has added features to detect pedestrians in the distance so they can avoid the need to even have these airbags deploy. A new radar and camera constantly search what’s ahead of the vehicle and the driver has a screen on the inside of the car that shows him/her what they are about to encounter.
This seems like a great piece of technology. Some will argue that too much help makes drivers lazy and they forget to pay attention to what they are doing. I, on the other hand, say that these types of features are needed because drivers are already lazy and don’t pay attention to the road ahead. And if these new airbags and safety features help save a life, I’m all for it. Besides, drivers who already pay attention to their driving habits are still going to do so. Airbags are great safety features, but who wants to take a chance and trust them to save a life?
You won’t see cars with these new features at your local Toyota dealer just yet. The company hasn’t released a date when it’s going to start including these on vehicles. But you can still find the latest safety features and options on the market today with a new Toyota vehicle. Test drive one today and see what peace of mind really feels like!
