The Cherokee has standard Active Head Restraints, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Head Restraints system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Trailblazer doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Cherokee (except Latitude) offers optional Parksense with Rear Stop that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Trailblazer doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Cherokee has standard ParkSense to help warn the driver about vehicles, pedestrians or other obstacles behind or, optionally, in front of the vehicle. The Trailblazer doesn’t offer a front parking aid.
The Cherokee 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. A system to reveal vehicles in the Trailblazer’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Cherokee 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 Trailblazer LS/LT/ACTIV/RS offers a rear cross-path warning system and it costs extra.
Both the Cherokee and the Trailblazer have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger 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, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available all wheel drive.
The Jeep Cherokee weighs 421 to 1264 pounds more than the Chevrolet Trailblazer. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Jeep Cherokee is safer than the Chevrolet Trailblazer:
|
Cherokee |
Trailblazer |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
3 Stars |
HIC |
166 |
401 |
Neck Compression |
26 lbs. |
82 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
241/259 lbs. |
409/383 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.