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 Wagoneer are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Cayenne doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Wagoneer has standard Active Headrests, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Headrests system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Cayenne doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Wagoneer has standard Park Assist with Rear Stop that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Cayenne doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Wagoneer 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 Cayenne’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Wagoneer 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. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the Cayenne.
The Wagoneer’s optional 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 Cayenne doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Wagoneer and the Cayenne have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, night vision systems, lane departure warning systems and around view monitors.