For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Ford Edge have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Toyota Highlander Hybrid doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.
The Ford Edge has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Highlander Hybrid doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Edge. But it costs extra on the Highlander Hybrid.
Both the Edge and the Highlander Hybrid have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available front parking sensors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Ford Edge is safer than the Toyota Highlander Hybrid:
|
Edge |
Highlander Hybrid |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
212 |
292 |
Neck Injury Risk |
22.4% |
38.2% |
Neck Stress |
229 lbs. |
347 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
21 lbs. |
55 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
282 |
328 |
Chest Compression |
.4 inches |
.6 inches |
Neck Compression |
44 lbs. |
90 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
145/201 lbs. |
545/323 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
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 Ford Edge is safer than the Toyota Highlander Hybrid:
|
Edge |
Highlander Hybrid |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Hip Force |
192 lbs. |
300 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
103 |
114 |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
257 |
366 |
Spine Acceleration |
38 G’s |
41 G’s |
Hip Force |
425 lbs. |
664 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.