For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Camry Hybrid have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Honda Insight doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
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 Camry Hybrid are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Insight doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Toyota Camry Hybrid has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Insight doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Camry Hybrid has standard Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats (WIL), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WIL system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Insight doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The Camry Hybrid has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Insight doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Camry Hybrid XLE/XSE 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 Insight doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Camry Hybrid XLE/XSE offers an optional Bird’s Eye View Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Insight only offers a rear monitor.
Both the Camry Hybrid and the Insight have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.
The Toyota Camry Hybrid weighs 402 to 580 pounds more than the Honda Insight. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts. Crosswinds also affect lighter cars more.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Toyota Camry Hybrid is safer than the Honda Insight:
|
Camry Hybrid |
Insight |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
140 |
202 |
Neck Compression |
13 lbs. |
54 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
21% |
26% |
Neck Compression |
45 lbs. |
63 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Toyota Camry Hybrid is safer than the Honda Insight:
|
Camry Hybrid |
Insight |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
134 |
220 |
Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
.9 inches |
Abdominal Force |
136 lbs. |
155 lbs. |
Hip Force |
296 lbs. |
316 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
289 |
328 |
Spine Acceleration |
48 G’s |
59 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
164 |
279 |
Spine Acceleration |
35 G’s |
38 G’s |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Camry Hybrid its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 29 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Insight has not been fully tested, yet.