2021 Toyota Highlander Safety

Toyota Highlander IIHS Safety Ratings

One of the easiest ways to gauge a vehicle’s safety is to consult its crash-test ratings. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has glowing things to say about the 2021 Toyota Highlander—they even gave this SUV a 2021 Top Safety Pick award. It’s all because it earned a rating of “Good” in all its crashworthiness tests.

In addition to the excellent safety engineering, this vehicle also earned a “Superior” rating in both its vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian frontal crash prevention. That’s because this vehicle’s Pre-Collision System stopped the car in both the 12 MPH and 25 MPH tests in both categories.

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Highlander Active Safety: Star Safety System™ and More

The Star Safety System™ is a convenient suite of six active safety features to keep you, your passengers, and other vehicles around you protected. This system includes technology that can correct under- or oversteering, provide better traction control, and help with operating the brakes if there isn’t enough pressure being applied.

This system includes:

• Enhanced Vehicle Stability Control—This prevents sideways slippage of the vehicle when understeering occurs or a strong oversteer while turning a corner.
• Traction Control—This prevents slipping of the wheels when the accelerator has been depressed in an excessive manner while on slippery pavement.
• Anti-lock Brake System—This prevents the wheels from locking when the brakes are applied in a firm manner or when pressing the brakes on a slippery surface.
• Electronic Brake-force Distribution—This uses ABS for proper brake-force distribution between the front and rear wheels.
• Brake Assist—This provides supplementary brake force to drivers that cannot generate a large enough brake force during emergency braking.

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Highlander Passive Safety Features

The advanced airbag system will protect you and your family. It includes driver and front-passenger airbags, driver and front-passenger seat cushion airbags, a driver knee airbag for added protection, seat cushion airbag for the front passenger, and curtain shield airbags.

LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) is a helpful feature for smaller Toyota Highlander passengers. These can help you securely strap in a child with a car seat and ensure they’re buckled and ready for the ride.

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Toyota Highlander Driver-Assistive Technologies

The Highlander comes standard with Toyota Safety Sense™ 2.5+, which can aid your decision-making while driving. Let’s take a look at some of the helpful driver-assistive technologies included in this safety suite:

• Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist—If you’re drifting over the line in your lane, this system can issue an alert. If the system determines you aren’t able to correct course, the Steering Assist function will gently correct steering and keep the Highlander in its lane.
• Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection—By utilizing a set of sensors, an audible warning will be provided to let you know of a possible collision under certain circumstances. If you can’t react in time, automatic braking support kicks in to decrease chances of a collision.
• Automatic High Beams—This system is designed to automatically turn off your high beams for oncoming traffic, so everyone enjoys optimal visibility.