For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Ford Escape 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 Buick Encore doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.
The Escape has standard Automatic Emergency Braking, which use forward mounted sensors to warn the driver of a possible collision ahead. If the driver doesn’t react and the system determines a collision is imminent, it automatically applies the brakes at full-force in order to reduce the force of the crash or avoid it altogether. The Encore offers an available collision warning system without the automated brake feature that would prevent or reduce the collision if the driver fails to react.
The Escape has standard Post Collision Braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Encore 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 Escape Titanium has a standard backup collision prevention system that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Encore doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Escape’s standard 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. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Encore.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Escape has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the Encore.
The Escape’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 Encore doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Escape and the Encore have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and front and rear 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 Escape is safer than the Buick Encore:
|
Escape |
Encore |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
22.5% |
26% |
Neck Stress |
185 lbs. |
298 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
188/315 lbs. |
363/313 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
102 |
207 |
Neck Injury Risk |
36.3% |
38% |
Neck Compression |
58 lbs. |
104 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
220/169 lbs. |
249/289 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 Escape is safer than the Buick Encore:
|
Escape |
Encore |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Hip Force |
240 lbs. |
388 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
97 |
100 |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
11 inches |
14 inches |
HIC |
344 |
382 |
Spine Acceleration |
32 G’s |
46 G’s |
Hip Force |
462 lbs. |
707 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, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Acceptable” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Escape the rating of “Top Pick” for 2021, a rating granted to only 137 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Encore last would have qualified as a “Top Pick” in 2016.