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 Seltos are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Escape FHEV doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
Both the Seltos and the Escape FHEV have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.
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 Kia Seltos is safer than the Ford Escape FHEV:
|
Seltos |
Escape FHEV |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
109 |
197 |
Abdominal Force |
170 G’s |
191 G’s |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Hip Force |
754 lbs. |
816 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
225 |
344 |
Hip Force |
433 lbs. |
462 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, with its optional front crash prevention system, and its headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Seltos its highest rating: “Top Pick Plus” for 2019, a rating granted to only 102 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Escape FHEV is only a standard “Top Pick” for 2019.