| Top marks for Toyota |
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The Avensis scored 34 points out of a possible 36 and was the first car to be awarded five stars under Euro NCAP’s new, tougher testing regime. That includes a more accurate measurement of pedal movement and the use of a more sensitive side impact dummy to predict more accurately the potential injury risk resulting from a crash. Safety features on the Avensis include nine airbags fitted as standard across the range, including the first European standard-fit driver’s knee airbag. Toyota GB managing director Graham Smith says: “We are very proud that Euro NCAP has recognised that the new Avensis sets a new benchmark for safety with a record score. Toyota engineers designed everything on the car to a superior level of quality, aiming to give customers the very best in many areas, including running costs, reliability as well as safety.” Euro NCAP chairman Max Mosley adds: “The results for the Toyota Avensis are particularly impressive because they are the first to be published in accordance with an updated and more demanding Euro NCAP crash-test protocol.” The new car entered showrooms on 1 March with the launch of 1.8 litre VVT-I and 2.0 litre direct injection petrol-engined models and 2.0 litre direct injection D-4D diesel Euro IV emission-compliant models joined the upper medium sector range on 1 May. The UK-built Avensis is Toyota’s European flagship model and forms the core of the manufacturer’s range with the Yaris and Corolla. Toyota hopes to sell about 27,000 Avensis models in a full year with the majority going into the company car market. “In the new Avensis, both active and passive safety have been given the highest priority,” says Toyota fleet general manager Jon Pollock. “The provision of nine airbags as standard equipment in all models is the clearest representation of the car’s superb safety package, setting new standards in the upper-medium segment.” The proliferation of airbags includes the sector debut of a 1.8-litre SRS driver’s knee airbag, which deploys from a panel beneath the steering column and extends over the knee joints and upper parts of the shins. It helps prevent the lower legs from striking the surrounds of the driver’s footwell and also protects the knees from hard objects, such as the steering column, key cylinder and other attachments. The new Avensis also features driver and front seat passenger airbags, with the former having a seat position sensor that checks the seat slide position in the event of an accident. This ensures that drivers who are sitting close to the steering wheel do not receive the full force of the airbag unless it is necessary. Meanwhile, side and curtain-shield airbags offer protection to the head and chest of the driver, front seat passenger and outer rear seat passengers in the event of a side impact. The curtain-shield airbag has also been designed to protect the heads of the outer rear seat passengers in the event of rear-end-only side impact. Side airbags at the front are also standard equipment across the range. Further measures to reduce injury include an energy-absorbing system built into the steering wheel and column. If the front of the car is deformed in a collision, the internal sections of the steering column contract, reducing the distance by which the steering column and wheel protrude into the cabin. Occupant protection is provided through an exceptionally strong and rigid body structure, with the Minimal Intrusion Cabin System (MICS) designed to absorb and disperse impact energies away from the passenger cell through high-strength sheet steel construction and the careful location of reinforcements, cross members and impact beams. All models, which include saloon, hatchback and Tourer bodystyles with a choice of five trim levels, are equipped with ABS, Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist (BA), Traction Control (TRC) and Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) are additionally standard on all 2.0 litre petrol models.
Further standard safety elements include the provision of Isofix child seat mounts with top tether anchor to help prevent the child seat from tipping forward in the event of an impact, and clear view Optitron instrumentation. While Toyota has focused on protecting occupants in the event of a crash, it is a fact of life that road accidents do happen and so careful attention has also been paid to repair costs. The Avensis boasts equal best-in-class UK insurance ratings ranging from groups seven to nine and that achievement has been helped by substantially reduced crash repair costs over the old model. In the event of an accident, Toyota chiefs claim the new Avensis is up to 60% cheaper to repair in a front-end accident and 21% cheaper to repair in a rear-end accident than the previous model, thereby also significantly undercutting repair bills applicable to rival models. Low vehicle ownership costs are crucial in getting a vehicle on to a company’s fleet choice list and Toyota has paid special attention to keeping costs to a minimum by ensuring components are cheap and simple to replace in the event of typical low-speed front and rear impacts, thereby reducing both parts and labour costs. For example, a bolt-on crushable box section is incorporated in the front bumper mountings, which can be replaced without cutting or welding, and headlamp brackets are designed to break on impact, before the lamp itself is damaged. Risk management workshops Fleet operators and company bosses who neglect atwork driver safety may face custodial sentences as the police and Health and Safety Executive bring more and more prosecutions against rogue businesses for “aiding and abetting” offences to be committed. With the prosecuting authorities cracking down on at-work driver safety, Toyota has joined forces with RAC Risk Management to compile comprehensive guides and hold day-long workshops for fleet chiefs. It is abundantly clear that companies operating fleets of vehicles can no longer afford to adopt an “out of sight, out of mind” attitude towards their drivers once they leave the company car park. And fleet decision-makers must remember that risk management procedures and the law are equally applicable to employees who drive their own cars on company business as well as company car drivers. The Toyota Fleet/RAC Risk Management workshops cover a variety of key risk management issues including: • The need for accident prevention • Compiling a company road safety policy statement • How to undertake liability and risk assessments • Post-crash analysis and administration
“The law is tightening up and rightly so. It is in the interests of everyone that the number of road accidents is reduced. However, we must help each other to put best practices’ procedures in place and that is why we have joined forces with the RAC,” he says. Each workshop caters for approximately 25 delegates, who undertake a series of exercises to ensure that they understand both the risks and the solutions. They then leave with a pack of administrative tools to help them put in place a comprehensive risk management strategy, which will steer them clear of trouble. In the event of a serious accident, the police and Health and Safety Executive will be looking for tangible evidence that an at-work driving risk management strategy is in place and is being adhered to by the company and its staff. A failure by the company to detail this information is likely to spell prosecution of the business and senior staff, including directors and the fleet manager. There are a number of workshops taking place later this year throughout the UK. For dates, venues and further information, contact the Toyota Fleet Business Centre on 0845 271 2712. |
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