There’s no better place to get a read on what’s trending in automobile safety technology for 2025 than the Canadian International AutoShow, which ran over ten days in Toronto in February.

In a nutshell, the event at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre attracted over 323,000 attendees, featuring participation from 43 brands and 100 exhibitors. The show was highlighted by the return of luxury car brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW Group, and Audi Canada. General Motors showcased full-scale exhibits for its four main brands: Cadillac, Buick, GMC, and Chevrolet. Additionally, the event included an EV test track and the interactive Camp Jeep experience made a comeback.  

The show saw 26 car launches from 16 brands.

TECHNOLOGY TO HELP PREVENT COLLISIONS

The advancement of car safety technology and innovation in this field was a widely discussed subject among automotive industry experts at the convention center’s event.  

Here’s what is leading the way for 2025:

• Advanced emergency braking systems (AEBS). A major cause of accident is distracted or drowsy drivers, which advancements in braking systems, with enhanced sensors, cameras and radar to detect potential collisions, is meant to address.
• Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. There are extraordinary advancements in cars “talking” to each other and to road infrastructure like traffic lights and road signs through real-time exchange of data (like speed, position and road hazards) all to assist drivers with more information to help prevent collisions, especially invaluable in congested urban environments.
• Enhanced blind spot detection and lane intervention. This was a popular feature for car manufacturers at the show – more accurate sensors and active intervention capabilities for people not ready to step over to autonomous driving vehicles just yet. How does the vehicle I am driving best have my back? Beyond the usual light and sound alerts, the car systems can now nudge the steering or apply brakes if a lane change risks collision, coupled with better tech integration into rearview cameras and mirrors. This tech will greatly impact lane-change accidents.
• Driver monitoring systems (DMS). Using AI, in-cabin sensors are greatly improving in helping to address human error, monitoring eye movement, head position, even vital signs to detect fatigue, impairment and distraction. An alert might pop up if the driver’s attention wanes, and the car might adjust climate control, or even slow down autonomously.
• Augmented reality heads-up displays. Aimed at keeping the driver’s eyes on the road instead of shifting focus to the dashboard or digital screen, heads-up display projects critical information onto the dashboard – information like speed limits, hazard warnings and navigation cues, all directly into the driver’s sight line. Some of these systems will even highlight pedestrians or vehicles in front in real time.

VIEWS FROM THE AUTO SHOW

Here’s a selection of comments from people at the show on the topic of safety, covering a variety of car brands, from the more entry-level to higher-end luxury models.

At Buick, a big push is the Buick Driver Confidence package, including forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane keep assist, following distance indicator and front pedestrian braking, all seen in the top-of-the-line 2025 Enclave, one of the vehicles that was launched at the show (which also has the heads-up technology).  

A more elevated version of adaptive cruise control in the Enclave is what a lot of people are looking for, says Tien Truong, a General Motors Canada spokesperson, giving the driver a hands-free experience.

“It’s a feature people don’t realize they want until they’ve experienced it,” she says. “Yes, you can drive the car manually, but when you have the adaptive cruise control on and you are on a four-hour road trip, it’s nice to have it.”

SAFETY CONCERNS ABOUT HANDS-FREE FEATURES

People still have trepidation around safety when it comes to hands-free.

“The way super cruise works, you still need to pay attention,” she says. “Your eyes and head need to be forward, so the dash cam detects that you are actively participating. But it does elevate the driving experience a little bit more.”

One of the safest vehicles at the auto show was the Volvo XC90, which also made its debut, according to Stefan Diklich, product manager at Volvo Car Canada.

“The XC90 is designed to be our safest car ever,” he says. Diklich explained the safety cage, which what is underneath the skin of the XC90.

“Volvo has analyzed real world crash data for over 50 years to make the strongest, lightest weight chassis that we can for the car, while protecting all the occupants inside,” Diklich says. Boron steel, an alloy of carbon steel, known for its hardness, envelopes the car from the front to the back, maintaining the integrity of the frame.

“Of course, our focus is to use technology to avoid accidents, but we still go back to our core principle that in the worst-case scenario, if there is an accident, you are still protected,” Diklich said.

RADAR SYSTEM THAT CAN SEE IN THE DARK

Diklich was showing people the EX90, that was also just launched, an electric SUV that uses a LIDAR radar system mounted on the roof near the top of the windshield that uses lasers and sensors to create a 3D image of the car’s surroundings, so that it can see in the dark, detecting obstacles and hazards – a system that’s gone beyond the ultrasonic sensors and radars that have marked their vehicles in years past.

“It can warn you of what’s ahead on the road, up to two football fields in length,” he says.

The LIDAR system was one of the better examples at the auto show of how cars are evolving when it comes to safety technology.

OFF-ROADING VEHICLES

Even off-roading vehicles are boosted with safety features, including forward- and rear-facing off-road cameras on Jeep Wrangler, Gladiator and Grand Cherokee Trailhawk, the Selec-Terrain traction management system which lets customers choose the on- or off-road setting for optimum 4×4 performance and the built-in off-road trail guides by Trails Offroad, which offers detailed trail guides for more than 62 Jeep Badge of Honor trails with difficulty ratings, route descriptions and key waypoints.

Advanced safety features on premium Jeep Grand Cherokee and Grand Wagoneer models include a head-up display, active driving assist and night vision with pedestrian and animal detection.

Nissan was talking about the new Armada with a camera that allows you to see under your car – for example if you are turning into a tight parking lot you can see where your wheels are going, so you can manage your car safely into the spot.

The Armada also has an ultra-wide view camera that’s new that allows the driver at a stop sign for example to better see another car approaching from what was a blind spot.

ULTRA-LUXURY MODELS

At the ultra-luxury level, McLaren was talking about a carbon fibre chassis with their sports cars.

“There couldn’t be a safer way of building a car, from the standpoint of the chassis being the most rigid possible,” said Mark Basili, with Pfaff Automotive. “Outside of that, we keep getting more and more performance-oriented braking systems. McLaren is still kind of a purist brand, so we haven’t taken a lot of technologies in, like adaptive braking. Blind spot detection just came out in 2025, with the Artura models.

“The premise of the car is to be safe like a Formula One car but not adding a lot of ‘nannies’ or things that make the driver a little less aware,” he adds.

At the Toyota booth, the focus there was on the evolution to TSS 3.0 (Toyota Safety Sense), a suite of driver assistance and active safety technologies that helps prevent accidents (pre-collision system, adaptive cruise control, parking assists, blind spot monitor, lane departure alert, lane tracing assist, automatic high beams, road sign assist).

“We blend both active and passive safety to really help the driver, in every condition possible” said Philippe Crowe, corporate communications at Toyota Canada. “The fact that these technologies have existed for a long time doesn’t mean they are not improving. We’re improving our sensors. We’re improving how software uses those sensors. Nowadays with new cars, software has a bigger role.

CONVENIENCE IS NICE. SAFETY IS IMPORTANT

“We are improving the placement of the camera and how they are used. Processing power in the whole is being improved which allows the vehicle to better use the different sensors. It’s a sum of all the parts. You hardly see drastic changes with our cars. We are constantly improving. All those tiny actions improve the whole experience.”

Convenience in cars is nice, he adds. Safety though is important. Handless driving is a “want”, nice to have. But it’s not a “need” and if it sacrifices safety, it won’t make the cut at Toyota.

For example, with traffic jam assist, for below 40 kph, with a driver monitor camera built into the steering column, the car can drive hands-free, with the system constantly monitoring the driver’s eyes, because the driver still needs to be paying attention. There’s a warning first, and if the driver still isn’t paying attention the car can also cancel the system. That’s an example of a small step into the hands-free driving space that’s all the rage in the industry.

“We’re the only manufacturer in the market that offers a full lineup,” says Crowe. “We offer different technologies – not just electric vehicles, or just gas vehicles. We have hybrid vehicles, plug-in electric vehicles, even a hydrogen-powered vehicle. But we’re steadfast on safety.”

Disclaimer: This information has been provided for your convenience only and should not be construed as providing legal or insurance advice. Allstate does not control or guarantee the accuracy of any content on any third-party site. Allstate is not responsible for the privacy practices of any third-party site.