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 Tucson Hybrid are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The 500X doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests front crash prevention systems. With a score of 6 points, IIHS rates the Automatic Emergency Braking in the Tucson Hybrid as “Superior.” The 500X scores only 4 points and is rated only “Advanced.”
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Tucson Hybrid Limited has standard Reverse Collision-Avoidance Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The 500X doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Tucson Hybrid’s standard Downhill Brake Control allows you to creep down safely. The 500X doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.
The Tucson Hybrid’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the 500X and is only available on 500X Trekking/Sport/Trekking Plus.
The Tucson Hybrid Limited has a standard Around View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The 500X 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 Tucson Hybrid 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 and moves the vehicle back into its lane. A system to reveal vehicles in the 500X’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Tucson Hybrid 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 500X Trekking/Sport/Trekking Plus offers a rear cross-path warning system and it costs extra.
The Tucson Hybrid’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 500X doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Tucson Hybrid and the 500X have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights and rearview cameras.
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 Tucson Hybrid its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 92 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The 500X last would have qualified as only a standard “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.