The Toyota Prius has been named the safest new car of 2017 by What Car? and Thatcham Research.
The eco-friendly Prius features advanced safety technology including pedestrian AEB, road sign assist, lane support and head-up display, as well as reverse AEB as standard.
The What Car? Safety Award aims to increase awareness of the safest new cars; all 10 cars listed as finalists in 2017 carry pedestrian AEB as standard, and eight have some form of lane support system as standard.
The Peugeot 3008 was named runner up with the Volkswagon Tiguan in third place.
Pedestrian AEB was only introduced for Euro NCAP testing from June 2016, with the aim of reducing the 400 pedestrian deaths which occur on British roads every year.
Peter Shaw, chief executive at Thatcham Research, said: “Cars are becoming safer every year and 2016 saw some big movement in active safety systems being brought into more mass market vehicles.
“All 10 vehicles considered by the judges featured pedestrian AEB as standard. Alfa Romeo, Audi, Ford, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, Renault, Seat and Volkswagen therefore all deserve high praise for raising the bar in standardised safety.”
Matthew Avery, director of safety research at Thatcham, added: “Reverse AEB is currently only available on around half a dozen cars worldwide and Toyota is the first to fit this class-leading technology as standard, along with a host of other transformative safety tech.
“Safety is ingrained in Toyota DNA; all models in recent years achieved a Five-Star Euro NCAP score. The Prius however goes one step further, achieving the highest overall Euro NCAP result of 2016.
“Safety should not have to come at a premium and the Prius is a great example of a relatively inexpensive car which features a vast amount of safety tech as standard.”
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