There's 1 Key Area Toyota and Honda Aren't Dominating Other Car Brands
Andrew Koole
· 3 min read
But according to
Consumer Reports
(CR), both companies are struggling to offer driving assistance systems that compare to their rivals. In a recent test, Toyota and Honda both scored an unattractive 40 points out of 100. Compared to Cadillac’s 69 and Tesla’s 57, it’s clear that these Japanese automakers will have to up their game to remain competitive in the future.
Why did Toyota and Honda fail the driving assistance system test?
CR conducted a five-part test of all the driving assistance systems currently on the market, rating each of them based on capability and performance, keeping the driver engaged, ease of use, clear when safe to use, and unresponsive driver.
Toyota didn’t score more than a 5/10 in any of the categories. The company’s "Safety Sense 2.0" system had an average reaction to an unresponsive driver, and its overall capability/performance got mediocre ratings, but its ease of use received an embarrassing 2/10.
The "Honda Sensing" system’s capability and performance fared a little better compared to Toyota’s, but in the "unresponsive driver" category it did worse. It also rated at 2/10 for ease of use.
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What’s the big deal with driving assistance systems anyway?
MORE: Lidar Sensors for Self-Driving Cars: How Is Tesla Testing them?
Driving assistance systems are the latest high-tech features being offered in new models to improve safety and impress buyers.
Systems change from maker to maker, but they often include "self-driving" features like collision intervention, lane-keeping assistance, and adaptive cruise control.
Some aspects, like back-up cameras, have been around for years while nearly autonomous systems like Tesla’s AutoPilot show what the future of personal transportation will look like.
In the last few years, nearly every automaker in the world has developed its own system and added it to its new models. In many cases, changes to these systems have been the only things separating model year from model year.
According to the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
(IIHS), some driver assistance technologies can prevent crashes, but statistically, the most important safety features in your vehicle are still airbags and seatbelts.How do driving assistance systems impact car insurance rates?
As driving assistance systems evolve into fully autonomous technology, they will have an enormous effect on the insurance agency. But as of now, they don’t make a lot of difference.
That’s because while they might make cars safer, they also consist of high-tech parts that are expensive to replace if damaged. The more advanced systems are also only available in luxury vehicles which normally come with high premiums.
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