One of the first environmentally-friendly vehicles to make a splash in the automotive market is the Toyota Prius. In fact, when you think of a car that’s good for the environment, the Prius comes to mind almost as much as the Tesla. Probably because it’s been around for so long. 

Since its debut over 10 years ago, the Prius has garnered a lot of attention. It’s proved itself with its gas mileage and reliability, but is it safe? U.S. News & World Report reviews the Prius and shows us where it stands when it comes to safety. 

An overview of the Toyota Prius

They rated the Prius #7 on their Hybrid and Electric Cars list. The 5-seater Prius sports a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine that puts out 121 hp, which isn’t as peppy as its rivals, but it offers decent enough power to get around. 

The interior is more than spacious, not only for front and rear passengers but also for storing items in the trunk. Long-distance travel is not a problem with this car. The seats offer more than supportive, so passengers will ride in comfort the whole trip. 

Besides being a hybrid electric sedan, the Prius is more known for its fuel economy ratings. When driving on the highway, it can get up to 53 mpg. City driving is even more impressive with 58 mpg.

It falls a bit short of its rivals in EPA ratings, but not by a whole lot. The Hyundai Ioniq, for example, can get up to 59 mpg just on the highway. For the city, it can get up to 57 mpg.

Driving around in this car isn’t as impressive as most of its rivals, though. Its ride is lackluster, and handling is alright, but with its roomier cabin, and easy-to-use controls, many people overlook its shortcomings and purchase it, anyway. That may explain why sales continue to stay on the higher side. 

The safety scores for the Toyota Prius

The IIHS gave the Prius a rating of ‘Good’ for all their tests, except for one. The small overlap frontal crash test received the next best rating, which turns out to be a score of acceptable. 

The headlight illumination test also received the acceptable rating, since the path of light they give off isn’t as good as they could be. 

For crash avoidance testing, this Toyota performed at its best and received a superior rating from them. 

The NHTSA also tested the Prius and according to their rating system, this electric car received an overall score of 5 out of 5 stars. The frontal and the rollover crash tests got four stars from them. Side crash testing got the Prius a score of five stars.

Included safety features

The Prius comes with a nice set of standard safety and driver’s assistance features that not all its rivals have. You will get adaptive cruise control and forward collision alert that comes with pedestrian detection as well as emergency braking. There’s also parking assistance that comes with their lane departure warning and, of course, a rear-view camera. 

There are plenty of options you can add to your trim levels as well. Some of those features would include front and rear parking sensors, rear cross-traffic alert, and active parking assistance. 

With average reliability ratings and a lengthy list of safety features available, the Prius has proven itself to be one of the safest vehicles out there. If you’re in the market for a good, reliable, hybrid electric sedan, the Prius is definitely a good choice for quality and safety no matter if you choose FWD or the AWD version.