For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Altima 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 Dodge Charger 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 Altima are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Charger doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Nissan Altima has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Charger doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Altima’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Charger.
The Altima SL/SR VC-Turbo has a standard Intelligent Around View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Charger only offers a rear monitor and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the front or sides.
The Altima has a standard blind spot warning system that 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 Charger’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Altima has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert, helping the driver avoid collisions. Dodge charges extra for Rear Cross Path Detection on the Charger.
The Altima’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 Charger doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Altima and the Charger have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights and rearview cameras.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Nissan Altima is safer than the Dodge Charger:
|
Altima |
Charger |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
114/342 lbs. |
582/440 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.7 inches |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
260/280 lbs. |
267/469 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Nissan Altima is safer than the Charger:
|
Altima |
Charger |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Restraints |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Neck Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head injury index |
59 |
222 |
Peak Head Forces |
0 G’s |
0 G’s |
Steering Column Movement Rearward |
4 cm |
9 cm |
Chest Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Max Chest Compression |
19 cm |
28 cm |
Hip & Thigh Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Femur Force R/L |
.4/.5 kN |
3.7/3 kN |
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L |
0%/0% |
1%/0% |
Lower Leg Evaluation |
GOOD |
POOR |
Tibia index R/L |
.53/.45 |
1.21/.58 |
Tibia forces R/L |
.9/.4 kN |
3/4.7 kN |
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 Nissan Altima is safer than the Dodge Charger:
|
Altima |
Charger |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Movement |
1.4 inches |
1.4 inches |
Abdominal Force |
164 lbs. |
212 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
157 |
270 |
Spine Acceleration |
42 G’s |
48 G’s |
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, with its optional vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Acceptable” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Altima its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 126 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Charger is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick.”