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 Frontier are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Maverick doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Frontier offers optional Rear Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Maverick doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Frontier PRO-XPRO-4X offers an optional Around View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Maverick only offers a rear monitor and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the front or sides.
The Frontier’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Maverick doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Frontier and the Maverick have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, rearview cameras, available four-wheel drive, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.
The Nissan Frontier weighs 590 to 1210 pounds more than the Ford Maverick. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.