Did you know that Lexus is one of the best-selling luxury brands in America? As Toyota’s luxury division, Lexus is renowned for offering a bespoke customer experience rooted in hospitality. When it comes to visiting your local Lexus dealer, you always come first, and it shows the moment you arrive and continues long after you get behind the wheel of your next luxury sedan or SUV.
While this bespoke experience adds to Lexus’ appeal, the automaker also strikes an exceptional balance by offering luxury and ingenuity across its entire lineup. Lexus isn’t in the business of making drivers choose or compromise, delivering either performance or luxury, affordability, or innovation. Instead, Lexus provides the whole package, equipping each model with the latest conveniences, amenities, and technologies that add incredible value.
We see this ingenuity firsthand in how Lexus prioritizes driver and passenger safety, refusing to skimp on cutting-edge technologies that heighten your situational awareness and proactively minimize the likelihood of a collision. While industry regulations require specific features, Lexus goes above and beyond with its Lexus Safety System+ and Lexus Safety System+ 3.0. Here’s a closer look at the suites and how they fulfill Lexus’ mission to engineer a world without accidents.
The Lexus Safety System+ and Lexus Safety System+ 3.0
Decades ago, airbags revolutionized the automotive landscape by improving our safety and that of our passengers. However, even then, our awareness of our surroundings was limited to what we could see or hear based on our efforts to physically look around. While we still rely on our senses, advancements in the industry give us active and passive safety tools that serve as virtual spotters to improve our focus, increase our awareness, and keep us safe. For Lexus, those tools are centralized in the Lexus Safety System+ and the newer Lexus Safety System+ 3.0, which debuted on the 2022 NX and 2023 RX.
Lexus knows that protecting drivers from collisions starts with prevention, designing its safety suites to actively minimize the potential for frontal crashes, nighttime accidents, and unintended lane departure. With these three accidents as the focus, Lexus engineers a comprehensive safety suite that instills confidence in the driver’s seat. So, what tools can you expect in the suites, and how do they work?
Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection
Every Lexus built since 2020 comes with a Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection. This feature actively monitors ahead of the Lexus, alerting you to potential collisions with another vehicle or a pedestrian. If you fail to respond to the alerts, the technology can automatically engage the brakes or enhance your braking with Brake Assist to prevent the collision or minimize the impact.
Newer Lexus models feature an updated version of this technology in the Lexus Safety System+ 2.5 or 3.0 suites, which includes an enhanced millimeter-wave radar and in-vehicle camera. The newer technology expands the system’s functionality, adding support during left turns at intersections, improving pedestrian detection in low-light conditions, and optimizing cyclist detection during the day.
Lane Departure Alert
The Lexus Safety System addresses the second most common type of accident, unintentional lane departure, by equipping models with a Lane Departure Alert tool. The standard tool relies on an in-vehicle camera to detect the white and yellow lane markers relative to the vehicle’s position when traveling at speeds over 32 mph. If it senses you’re drifting out of the lane; it provides audible and visual alerts.
Lexus enhances the Lane Departure Alert feature by adding Steering Assist and Lane Keep Assist. For example, Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist is standard on models like the NX, RX, and RC, whereas Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist and Lane Keep Assist is standard on the LC. So, what’s the difference? Steering Assist adds corrective action, intervening when your Lexus veers out of the designated lane by subtly adjusting the steering wheel. Lane Keep Assist works with Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, helping you stay in the lane when cruising at highway speeds. By pairing the feature with Steering Assist, the tool makes traveling on the highway safer and more enjoyable.
Intelligent High Beams
Visibility is integral to your safety, which is why you’ll find the Lexus Safety Suite includes Intelligent High Beams. These high beams enhance your visibility in every condition without requiring any input from you. Instead, the high beams automatically engage when it senses low visibility. Alternatively, the high beams will dim for oncoming traffic.
Dynamic Radar Cruise Control
While the Lexus Safety System+ focuses on keeping you safe behind the wheel, it’s also designed to improve your overall experience. Tools like Dynamic Radar Cruise Control can transform your time in the driver’s seat by making your commute hassle-free, whether traveling at highway speeds or navigating rush-hour traffic. So, how does it work?
Models like the Lexus RC F and GX feature High-Speed Dynamic Radar Cruise Control that works at speeds above 28 mph. Once engaged, the system relies on the grille-mounted millimeter-wave radar and an in-vehicle camera to monitor the traffic ahead, decelerating your Lexus as necessary. In addition, you can tailor how the tool responds by fine tuning the vehicle-to-vehicle distance settings with options like short, medium, or long.
Nearly every other model in the Lexus lineup features All-Speed Dynamic Radar Cruise Control. As the name implies, the technology works anywhere from 0 to 110 mph. It works like High-Speed Radar Cruise Control, relying on a radar and camera sensor to monitor traffic. However, Lexus extends its functionality by heightening its responsiveness so that it works at low speeds, accelerating and decelerating as needed in rush-hour traffic. In addition, newer models with the Lexus Safety System+ 2.5 have extended visibility and will actively reduce the speed of your Lexus if it senses an upcoming curve in the road.
Road Sign Assist
How often have you traveled down the road only to miss the speed limit sign? It’s a risky guessing game that can easily lead to a speeding ticket. Fortunately, Lexus remedies the issue with tools like Road Sign Assist. The technology relies on a built-in camera to read traffic signs and display the signs on your vehicle’s Multi Information Display center or the Head Up Display. The feature can read Yield, Stop, and Do Not Enter signs and will post Speed Limit signs as soon as detected.
Lane Tracing Assist
Lexus does everything possible to minimize driver fatigue and improve your experience behind the wheel. Tools like Lane Tracing Assist accomplish this feat and work with All-Speed Dynamic Radar Cruise Control to optimize your safety and awareness when traveling at speeds above 32 mph.
Once you engage Dynamic Radar Cruise Control on a model like the LS, UX, LX, or IS, Lane Tracing Assist immediately gets to work behind the scenes. The feature monitors the lane markings, the position of the Lexus within the lane, and the vehicles ahead. If it senses the Lexus is drifting out of the lane or venturing in a direction beyond the lane markings, it will alert you and can make slight corrections to help your Lexus stay in the designated lane.
Your Safety Matters
Lexus makes your safety a priority with its Lexus Safety System+ 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 suites. The technologies in these suites are integral to optimizing your awareness and enhancing your safety in the driver’s seat. However, sometimes the unthinkable happens, and a collision becomes imminent. Even then, Lexus always has you covered with features like Safety Connect.
This advanced technology ensures help is always within reach, alerting emergency personnel to your location when the airbags deploy. This technology and the many other active and passive safety tools instill confidence as you navigate the road, add incredible value to the Lexus lineup, and showcase why Lexus is one of the safest automotive brands in the industry today.
