For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Volkswagen Taos are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The MINI Cooper Clubman doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the Taos deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The Taos’ side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The Cooper Clubman’s airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.
The Taos has a standard Automatic Post-Collision Braking System, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Cooper Clubman 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 Taos offers optional Maneuver Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Cooper Clubman doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Taos’ optional lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. The Cooper Clubman doesn’t offer a lane departure warning system.
The Taos’ optional blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. The Cooper Clubman doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Taos’ optional cross-path warning system uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The Cooper Clubman doesn’t offer a cross-path warning system.
Both the Taos and the Cooper Clubman have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, crash mitigating brakes and rear parking sensors.