For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Rav4 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 Honda CR-V Hybrid doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.
The Toyota Rav4 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 CR-V Hybrid doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Rav4 has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The CR-V Hybrid 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 Rav4 (except LE/XLE) offers optional Parking Assist with Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The CR-V Hybrid doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Rav4 Limited/TRD Off-Road offers an optional Bird’s Eye View Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The CR-V Hybrid only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
The Rav4 has standard Safety Connect™, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The CR-V Hybrid doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the Rav4 and the CR-V Hybrid have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, 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, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Toyota Rav4 is safer than the Honda CR-V Hybrid:
|
Rav4 |
CR-V Hybrid |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
284 |
309 |
Chest Compression |
.4 inches |
.6 inches |
Neck Compression |
95 lbs. |
96 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 Toyota Rav4 is safer than the Honda CR-V Hybrid:
|
Rav4 |
CR-V Hybrid |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Chest Movement |
.5 inches |
.6 inches |
Abdominal Force |
138 lbs. |
142 lbs. |
Hip Force |
246 lbs. |
310 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Spine Acceleration |
49 G’s |
50 G’s |
Hip Force |
508 lbs. |
567 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
299 |
386 |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.