Toyota pledges auto braking by end of next year
by The Associated Press
The government says automatic emergency braking could prevent more than half of the 1.7 million rear-end crashes each year in the U.S.
DETROIT—Toyota Motor Corp. says it will make automatic emergency braking standard on almost all Toyota and Lexus models sold in the U.S. by the end of 2017.
Toyota’s announcement March 21 came days after the U.S. government announced a voluntary deal with 20 car companies to make automatic braking standard on most vehicles within six years.
Toyota said 25 of its 30 Lexus and Toyota models will have a suite of standard safety features—including automatic braking, pedestrian detection and lane departure warning—by the end of 2017. Models that will get those features later include the Lexus GX, the Toyota 4Runner and the hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai.
The government says automatic emergency braking could prevent more than half of the 1.7 million rear-end crashes each year in the U.S.
