For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda CR-V Hybrid have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Chevrolet Trax doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
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 CR-V Hybrid are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Trax doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the CR-V Hybrid deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The CR-V Hybrid’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The Trax’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.
The CR-V Hybrid has standard Collision Mitigation Braking System, which use forward mounted sensors to warn the driver of a possible collision ahead. If the driver doesn’t react and the system determines a collision is imminent, it automatically applies the brakes at full-force in order to reduce the force of the crash or avoid it altogether. The Trax doesn't offer collision warning or crash mitigation brakes.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The CR-V Hybrid has standard Low-Speed Braking Control that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Trax doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the CR-V Hybrid’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Trax doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.
The CR-V Hybrid’s 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. The Trax doesn’t offer a lane departure warning system.
The CR-V Hybrid Sport Touring has standard Parking Sensors to help warn the driver about vehicles, pedestrians or other obstacles behind or in front of their vehicle. The Trax doesn’t offer a front parking aid.
The CR-V 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. A system to reveal vehicles in the Trax’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the CR-V 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 Trax LT offers a rear cross-path warning system and it costs extra.
The CR-V 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 Trax doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the CR-V Hybrid and the Trax have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras and available all wheel drive.
The Honda CR-V Hybrid weighs 460 to 802 pounds more than the Chevrolet Trax. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.