Letting The Baby Birds Drive Away From the Nest

Jun 9, 2017

Letting The Baby Birds Drive Away From the Nest

So, you’ve got a teen driver in the family. It’s exciting, right? Well, mostly. For many parents, this is a big step into adulthood and you just want to keep your baby a baby as long as possible. I remember when my first born got his license, I was a mess. To be fair, at the time there wasn’t such a thing as Toyota Safety Sense, so there were many more safety concerns to factor into my usual motherly panicking. Now my son is 25, still living in my basement by the way, and honestly, it’s time for this baby bird to leave the nest already. My baby has been a baby long enough. Three teen drivers later and I can safely say it gets easier. Don’t get me wrong, I still worry about my babies out there on the road, but especially now in our family’s 2017 Toyota Corolla from Fiore Toyota, I know that my sons will be as safe as they can be and Toyota is there to help.

I’m under no illusion about who my children are, while they are mature and responsible, they are still teenagers. As such, despite our reinforcement of paying attention to the road and staying focused, the occasional distraction happens. Who among us can say that they haven’t gotten momentarily distracted while on the road and almost gotten into an accident? That said, my children need to be not only aware of their driving, but also the driving of those around them. Other drivers get distracted too and so having Toyota Safety Sense as an extra set of “eyes” on the road while I can’t be is very comforting.

One of the cool features of Toyota’s Safety Sense is its Pre-Collision System (PCS). This feature uses an in- vehicle camera and laser that enable your car to “sense” another vehicle in front of you and let you know when it looks like the probability of a frontal collision is high. It will let the driver know that they need to “take evasive action and brake, by using audio and visual alert.” When required the car might provide additional braking by way of Brake Assist. If the driver doesn’t breakfast enough and the car has determined that the likelihood of a collision is extremely high it may apply brakes on its own, in an effort to avoid a collision.

Another feature that gives me peace of mind is If Lane Departure Alert. This feature lets the driver know when they are veering over the line into another lane, unintentionally. It will provide both audio and visual alerts to let you know. The system is also equipped in some vehicles with Electronic Power Steering which makes small corrective turns in the steering wheel if it determines that the vehicle is unintentionally leaving its lane.

While I have grown to accept that my children have to grow up at some point, and I can’t be there to always protect and watch over them, at least I know that with Toyota will be there. Being a parent isn’t easy, and there isn’t an owner’s manual for children, so we’re all kinda winging it hoping everything works out. At least for driving Toyota has taken away some of the worries for me.