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 Kicks SV/SR are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The C-HR doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Nissan Kicks 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 C-HR doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Kicks has standard Rear Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The C-HR doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Kicks SR has a standard Around View® Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The C-HR only offers a rear monitor.
The Kicks 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 C-HR XLE/Nightshade/Limited offers a blind spot warning system.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Kicks 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 C-HR XLE/Nightshade/Limited has a rear cross-path warning system.
Both the Kicks and the C-HR have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available daytime running lights and driver alert monitors.
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 Nissan Kicks is safer than the Toyota C-HR:
|
Kicks |
C-HR |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Hip Force |
347 lbs. |
419 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
318 |
333 |
Spine Acceleration |
47 G’s |
58 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
13 inches |
HIC |
218 |
243 |
Spine Acceleration |
30 G’s |
40 G’s |
Hip Force |
535 lbs. |
714 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.