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 Hyundai Venue doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Ford Escape 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 Hyundai Venue doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
The Ford Escape has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Venue doesn’t offer knee airbags.
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 Venue 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 Venue doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Escape offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Venue doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The Escape has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. Only the Venue SEL/Limited offers a blind spot warning system.
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. Only the Venue SEL/Limited has a rear cross-path warning system.
Both the Escape and the Venue have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available rear parking sensors.
The Ford Escape weighs 560 to 954 pounds more than the Hyundai Venue. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts. Crosswinds also affect lighter cars more.
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 Hyundai Venue:
|
Escape |
Venue |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
143 |
335 |
Neck Injury Risk |
22.5% |
32% |
Neck Stress |
185 lbs. |
270 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
23 lbs. |
182 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
188/315 lbs. |
769/350 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
102 |
280 |
Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.8 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
36.3% |
48% |
Neck Stress |
181 lbs. |
206 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
58 lbs. |
70 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 Hyundai Venue:
|
Escape |
Venue |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Chest Movement |
.9 inches |
1.1 inches |
Abdominal Force |
191 G’s |
215 G’s |
Hip Force |
240 lbs. |
275 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
97 |
223 |
Spine Acceleration |
43 G’s |
82 G’s |
Hip Force |
816 lbs. |
843 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
11 inches |
12 inches |
Spine Acceleration |
32 G’s |
42 G’s |
Hip Force |
462 lbs. |
790 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.