Toyota is famous for making safe and reliable vehicles. The Tacoma, which is the mid-sized pickup truck on Toyota’s lineup, is one of the safest pickup trucks on the market today. This is how safe the Tacoma really is, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. 

The NHTSA’s verdict 

Overall, the NHTSA gave the Tacoma a safety rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Like the Tundra, which is Toyota’s full-size pickup truck, the Tacoma did just ok in its frontal crash tests while it performed better in its side crash tests. The NHTSA has two ratings for its frontal crash test category, one for driver-side crashes and another for passenger-side crashes. In both of these categories, the Tacoma scored 4 out of 5 stars. 

In terms of its side crash tests, however, the NHTSA gave the Tacoma 5 out of 5 stars overall. However, the Tacoma did better in some of the side crash tests than it did in others. For example, crash tests involving the front and driver seats got 4 out of 5 stars, and the Tacoma also got 4 out of 5 stars in the pole crash test. That said, it got 5 out of 5 stars in every other side crash-test category. 

The last test that the NHTSA did for the Tacoma was the rollover test. In this test, the Tacoma was given 4 out of 5 stars in its ability to prevent a rollover. The NHTSA also claims that there’s a 19% chance that the Tacoma will roll over when the driver loses control. 

The IIHS’s verdict

Unlike the NHTSA, the IIHS praised the Tacoma for its safety and the Tacoma even received the coveted Top Safety Pick award. The Tacoma was also very close to getting a Top Safety Pick Plus award, which the Ram 1500 got.

The reason why the Tacoma got such a good grade was simply that it scored the best marks in almost every category. The IIHS gave the Tacoma a “good” grade, which is the highest grade, in every safety category except for two. Those two categories were in the passenger-side frontal crash test and in the headlights of the Tacoma.

The Tacoma only got an “acceptable” rating, which is the second-highest grade possible, for its performance in the passenger-side frontal crash test. The standard headlights on the Tacoma got a “marginal” rating, which is the second-worst grade possible. But the headlights on some of the more premium trims of the Tacoma received a “good” rating. 

Standard safety features

The amount of standard smart safety features that a truck has is another good way to measure how safe it is. Toyota, as a company, has been leading the way in this regard as many of its vehicles have a ton of standard smart safety features that are only optional in other truck brands. Because these safety features are standard, drivers won’t have to spend a fortune for a safe Toyota truck.

The Tacoma, in particular, comes standard with forward collision warning, lane departure warning, crash imminent braking, and dynamic brake support according to the NHTSA. The Tacoma also has a full suite of seat belts, head restraints, and airbags as standard.

In regards to child safety, Toyota also offers safe power windows with an anti-pinch feature. These windows are not standard however, so drivers will have to pay more for them. The anti-pinch feature will help prevent children from being harmed by the powered windows.