In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Prius are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The A3 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
With its standard Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 with Pre-Collision, the Toyota Prius is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Audi A3, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:
|
|
Prius |
A3 |
| Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
|
|
Crossing Child - DAY |
|
| 12 MPH |
AVOIDED |
-11 MPH |
| 25 MPH |
AVOIDED |
-19 MPH |
|
|
Crossing Adult - NIGHT |
|
| 12 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
-11 MPH |
| 12 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
No Slowing |
| 25 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
-21 MPH |
| 25 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
-11 MPH |
|
|
Parallel Adult - NIGHT |
|
| 25 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
-4 MPH |
| 25 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
-8 MPH |
| 37 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
-14 MPH |
| Warning Issued-Brights |
2 sec |
1.5 sec |
| 37 MPH Low beams |
-34 MPH |
-1 MPH |
| Warning Issued-Low beams |
1.9 sec |
.3 sec |
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Prius offers an optional Parking Support Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The A3 doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.
The Prius Limited offers an optional Panoramic View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The A3 only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
The Prius has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the A3’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Prius has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert to warn the driver of approaching traffic and automatically engage the brakes to help avoid a collision. Audi charges extra for Rear Cross-Traffic Assist on the A3.
The Prius’ driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The A3 doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Prius and the A3 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems and rearview cameras.
The Toyota Prius has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2024 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned an “Acceptable” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The A3 is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.