The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has recently added a crash test on small trucks to determine how well their side-impact protection works in accidents.  Many trucks did not do well, but the Toyota Tacoma performed with great results; it was the only pickup to earn the highest rating of good in the side test for occupant protection.  These new tests are especially important because small pickups have the highest driver death rates of all vehicles and most occur in single-vehicle crashes and rollovers.  Furthermore, side-impact is the second most common type of crash fatality. 

Side air bags are standard on more than 65 percent of new models and manufacturers are working to make them standard by the 2010 model year. A federal mandate on side air bags goes into effect for the 2015 model year.   Hopefully the tests will allow automakers to learn how to make specifically, small trucks safer. 

Electronic stability control is one technology that ii a proven safety feature that can help prevent crashes and save lives, yet the Toyota Tacoma is only one of two trucks in this category that offer it.  In 2009 ESC will be standard on the Tacoma, front and rear head-curtain air bags and front torso air bags will also be standard.