Skip to main content

For better or worse, trucks are changing. The new Toyota Tacoma is here with its controversial hybrid engine and higher prices. But one aspect of the 2024 Toyota Tacoma is too good to be disputed. 

How safe is the 2024 Toyota Tacoma? 

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the 2024 Toyota Tacoma is much safer than the outgoing generation. It even earned the coveted Top Safety Pick title. 

It made a massive improvement in the small overlap front test. It earned a ‘Good’ score, which is the highest score possible. The 2023 Tacoma earned an ‘Acceptable’ rating. 

Plus, measurements taken from the crash dummy didn’t show any increased risk of injuries and the occupant compartment maintained its integrity during the test. 

To earn the Top Safety Pick award, vehicles must earn good ratings during the original moderate front overlap test and updated test. Vehicles must also earn acceptable or good ratings for their headlights across each trim level. 

The 2024 Toyota Tacoma climbing over rocks
2024 Toyota Tacoma | Toyota

An acceptable or good rating for the revised front pedestrian prevention test is required. The new test replaces the daytime and nighttime tests with a single evaluation that’s run during daylight hours and at night. 

The 2024 Toyota Tacoma didn’t earn the Top Safety Pick+ award because it wasn’t evaluated in the updated moderate overlap front test. 

Also, the 2024 Tacoma didn’t earn any Poor or Marginal scores like the 2023 model did. It also has fewer Acceptable ratings. 

The 2023 Tacoma failed to avoid collisions with pedestrians at speeds of 25 mph. It only reduced its speed before impact. But the 2024 Tacoma can avoid collisions at 25 and 37mph speeds. 

Not to beat a dead horse, but the 2024 model has better seat belt reminder scores as well. It hasn’t been evaluated for child seats yet. 

Standard safety features for the 2024 Tacoma include: 

  • Forward collision warning 
  • Automatic emergency braking 
  • Adaptive cruise control 
  • Lane departure mitigation 
  • Lane centering assistance 

The Tacoma is the first mid-size truck to earn Good scores in the updated tests. However, the 2024 Ford Ranger and 2025 Jeep Gladiator have updates that could make them safer too.

Best in Trucks
Avatar photo
Staff Writer

Allison Barfield

Allison Barfield joined MotorBiscuit in 2020 and covers all things trucks, SUVs, and Jeeps. Having grown up on a farm in Rock Hill, South Carolina, she’s no stranger to the “Best in Class” truck and SUV debates; people in her hometown were always gathering to help work on vehicles together, and deliberation would naturally arise.

Allison graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in Media Arts. She has helped bring awareness to issues Women In Trucking face and has promoted Truckers Against Trafficking, an anti-trafficking NGO.

A fan of creatively dark literature, Allison appreciates the works of Shirley Jackson and Emily Dickenson. She lives in a mountainous area of the country and enjoys off-roading and camping. Her dog, Bruce, often joins her in testing trucks and SUVs for our site.