For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Ford Escape FHEV 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 Mazda CX-3 doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.
The Ford Escape FHEV 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 CX-3 doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Escape FHEV 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 CX-3 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 FHEV 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 CX-3 doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Escape FHEV offers optional parking sensors to help warn the driver about vehicles, pedestrians or other obstacles behind or, for the Escape FHEV Titanium in front of the vehicle. The CX-3 doesn’t offer a front parking aid.
The Escape FHEV’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 CX-3 doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Escape FHEV and the CX-3 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available all wheel drive.
The Ford Escape FHEV weighs 497 to 817 pounds more than the Mazda CX-3. 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 FHEV is safer than the Mazda CX-3:
|
Escape FHEV |
CX-3 |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
143 |
163 |
Neck Injury Risk |
22.5% |
27% |
Neck Stress |
185 lbs. |
334 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
102 |
157 |
Neck Injury Risk |
36.3% |
39% |
Neck Stress |
181 lbs. |
198 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
220/169 lbs. |
252/310 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 FHEV is safer than the Mazda CX-3:
|
Escape FHEV |
CX-3 |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Abdominal Force |
191 G’s |
199 G’s |
Hip Force |
240 lbs. |
334 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
97 |
241 |
Spine Acceleration |
43 G’s |
85 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
11 inches |
14 inches |
Hip Force |
462 lbs. |
629 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.