The 2022 Toyota Tacoma Is Lacking in 1 Crucial Area
Oh no, the Toyota Tacoma is falling short compared to other models in the lineup like the Toyota Highlander and Sienna. While the 2022 Toyota Tacoma is a great option to buy, it’s falling short in terms of safety rankings.
How safe is the 2022 Toyota Tacoma?
The 2022 Toyota Tacoma is a pretty safe truck. It earned a score of four out of five from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and has primarily high scores from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
However, the Tacoma fell short of its siblings. Unlike the Toyota Highlander and Toyota Sienna, the Tacoma isn’t an IIHS Top Safety Pick. According to Cars.com, the Tacoma got a ‘Marginal’ rating for the passenger-side small overlap test.
It has an increased risk of front-seat passenger injuries. The Tacoma also earned two ‘Acceptable’ scores for its ability to protect passengers’ legs and necks in other cash ratings.
Plus, it got one ‘Poor’ rating for protecting the leg and lower foot during the passenger-side crash. But the Tacoma earned a ‘Good’ rating, which is the highest score possible in the rest of the tests.
To get the Top Safety Pick designation, a vehicle is required to earn a Good rating on six crashworthiness tests, but the Tacoma only got top scores in five of them. It came so close, but not close enough.
What safety features come with the 2022 Tacoma?
The 2022 Toyota Tacoma is equipped with the Star Safety System and the Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 package.
It includes automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, forward collision mitigation, adaptive cruise control, rear-cross traffic alert, parking sensors, and a 360-degree overview camera.
The forward collision system includes pedestrian detection, and you can opt for automatic high beams. The optional LED beams earned a Good rating, and the other options received a Marginal score.
Thanks to the sold body and high-strength structure, the Tacoma earned high scores for its roof strength and the ability to protect passengers during rollovers.
In models built before 2021, the Tacoma failed safety testing because the rear leaf spring was prone to puncturing the gas tank, increasing the fire risk. The 2022 Toyota Tacoma corrected this issue to earn higher safety ratings.
Is the Tacoma safe for kids?
The 2022 Toyota Tacoma is pretty safe for kids. You just need to pay attention while installing child seats. The Tacoma got a Marginal rating because the child seat tethers are too deep in the seat, hard to find, and could be confused with other equipment.
However, the tethers are easy to maneuver, and not too much force is required to attach them. The biggest issue could be space. The Toyota Tacoma is notorious for having a tight back seat, so fitting child seats might be a squeeze.
Also, other midsize trucks didn’t do much better. The Chevy Colorado, Nissan Frontier, Ford Ranger, and Honda Ridgeline each failed to earn a Top Safety Pick. The Ford F-150, Ram 1500, and Hyundai Santa Cruz are safer trucks to consider.
The next-generation Toyota Tacoma might have updates to e even safer but falls slightly short for now. We will keep you updated on the latest Toyota news.
