2022 Mazda BT-50: 50 Days with a BT-50 – Safety

Enhanced Safety with the BT-50.

Mazda wants you to be completely safe while behind the wheel of the BT-50. And to aid that, they have added a host of safety tech onboard to make every drive safe and trouble free.

With a 5-star ANCAP safety rating this is one of the safest Utes you can buy. Lloyd Mather has had the BT-50 Thunder for 50 days and driven it daily instead of his trusty 100 Series Landcruiser. He has loved the onboard safety the BT50 offers, making each drive not only safe, but easy too.

He said, overall, the safety tech has made this car a breeze to drive. “Compared to my vehicle there are definitely more beeps and buzzes, but I have found the traffic alert systems and cruise control particularly useful.”

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On the road is where a host of features came to the fore during Lloyd’s time with the vehicle. The lane departure assist was noticeably working occasionally pulling the vehicle back to the centre of the lane on freeway drives.

Lloyd also mentioned that on the one occasion he was merging back onto the freeway and did not indicate, the wheel felt difficult to point in the direction he wanted. This can be avoided by using the correct signals.

When on the road and traveling over 60 km/h, lane departure warning and assist both work to keep you on the road. If you are wandering from your lane, an alarm will sound, and if you have assist on, the vehicle will steer back into the lane. It is very quick at detecting any drifting.

Having an older Landcruiser with neither cruise control nor adaptive cruise control left Lloyd very excited about longer drives. He noted that the drives to Port Macquarie or Coffs Harbour were quite tiring before but the comfort and ease of use of the adaptive cruise control was a game changer.

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On the freeway, adaptive cruise control will keep the car and you moving forward in safety. You can set the distance from the vehicle in front and from there, the sensors will make sure you never get dangerously close to it.

At the same time cruise control itself is very easy to set and reset when you enter a new speed zone. The system relies on cameras and sensors mounted on the front windscreen and in heavy rain, it is worth noting that the adaptive cruise control will not operate.

The blind spot monitoring was another feature Lloyd noticed which alerts you to vehicles sitting alongside you with a flash in the side mirror. It is a great feature which is sure to save you on more than one occasion. In saying that, the mirrors are large and offer an excellent view down both sides on the vehicle.

A handy feature when parking in town for Lloyd was Mazda’s rear cross traffic alert system. It makes it a breeze to get out of any nose first parking spot. While reverse is engaged, sensors in the car assess and monitor for vehicles approaching from either side and notify him inside the cabin with a loud audible beep. “This ensured I didn’t reverse into another vehicle accidentally and given it is not my car, that was very helpful.” he said.

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When driving at night Lloyd noticed the high beams dipping for oncoming traffic.

“I noticed the high beams automatically turn off when oncoming vehicles are detected. The system is quite efficient. I have not felt comfortable enough to let it dip the high beams all the time, but it has worked when I have forgotten to be courteous to the oncoming traffic.”

Another safety features which Lloyd did not use is a towing sway control. The BT50 makes an excellent tow vehicle. With a down ball weight of 350kg and a towing limit of 3,500 kilograms, owners are definitely able to tow. The towing sway control will use braking and torque when it senses a trailer causing the car to sway. This action will reduce the sway of the trailer and help bring it under control.

He did love the hill descent control when off road, taking much of the work out of any downhill assaults while getting to his favourite off the beaten track beach. Even if you get into any trouble, autonomous emergency braking with turn assist will let you know you are about to have a smash and help you potentially avoid it.

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Again, Lloyd did not feel the need to test this feature. The alert is hard to miss and may save an inattentive driver. And if you are not paying attention to the speed limit either, excessive speed warning lets you know about it instantly.

Finally, families are surrounded by a class leading airbag set up with a set of frontside, and curtain bags, driver’s knee airbag and a front centre bag between the front seats, and you have a comprehensive safety package making sure you spend more time on the road in complete safety.

The safety tech onboard the BT50 is comprehensive and designed in a way that it is not merely glossy. It is functional and works quickly and efficiently. It is superior technology like this that makes every drive one to enjoy in the BT50 Thunder.

The full series

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