New Toyota Venza Safety Ratings Suggest Room for Improvement
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gives the new 2021 Toyota Venza a “Top Safety Pick” rating for its ability to protect occupants against injury. The Venza is a new hybrid crossover SUV about the size of a Toyota RAV4, based on the same platform and using the same hybrid drivetrain but offering a completely different sense of style, inside and out.
In IIHS testing, the new Venza receives top ratings for crash prevention, collision protection, and ease of use of the child safety seat anchors. However, the standard headlights earn a Marginal rating, disqualifying the Venza from achieving a “Top Safety Pick+” accolade.
By upgrading from base LE trim to either XLE or Limited trim, the Venza’s headlight-rating improves to Acceptable. The difference is the LE has LED reflector headlights while the XLE and Limited include LED projector designs. All Venzas include automatic high-beam headlights, but none offer curve-adaptive systems that help drivers see around dark corners.
Though it shares a platform with the Toyota RAV4, the 5-passenger Venza aims to deliver a more upscale and refined approach to a compact crossover. Think, “Lexus Lite.” Hybrid power and all-wheel drive are standard, and the Venza’s EPA fuel economy rating is 39 mpg in combined driving.
Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 is standard for the 2021 Venza, equipping the crossover with numerous advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS). The standard backup camera includes a lens washer to ensure usefulness in all kinds of weather conditions, while a digital rearview camera mirror and a Bird’s Eye View Camera with perimeter scanning are available to improve outward visibility. Toyota also equips every Venza with blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic warning, while the XLE and Limited have front and rear parking assistance sensors with automatic braking.
The 2021 Toyota Venza is on sale now.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Toyota are the sources of information in this article. It was accurate on October 26, 2020, but it may have changed since that date.