Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and CR-V Hybrid have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Santa Fe Hybrid has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The CR-V Hybrid’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.
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 Santa Fe Hybrid are reminded to check the back seat when a sensor determines the back seat is occupied. The CR-V Hybrid doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited has standard Parking Collision Avoidance Assist 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 Santa Fe Hybrid offers an optional Surround View Monitor 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 Santa Fe Hybrid has a standard Blue Link, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, 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 Santa Fe Hybrid and the CR-V Hybrid have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, 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 driver alert monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is safer than the Honda CR-V Hybrid:
|
Santa Fe Hybrid |
CR-V Hybrid |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
16% |
27% |
Neck Stress |
149 lbs. |
175 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
13 lbs. |
70 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
244 |
309 |
Chest Compression |
.4 inches |
.6 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
27% |
37% |
Neck Stress |
99 lbs. |
160 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
89 lbs. |
96 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
222/167 lbs. |
276/243 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 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is safer than the Honda CR-V Hybrid:
|
Santa Fe Hybrid |
CR-V Hybrid |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
61 |
71 |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
376 |
386 |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Santa Fe Hybrid its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 87 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The CR-V Hybrid is only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2022.