For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Prius 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 Chevrolet Bolt doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Prius are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Chevrolet Bolt doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
The Prius has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Bolt doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Prius offers an optional Parking Support Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Bolt doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Prius has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Bolt doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The Prius 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 Bolt’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Prius has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert to warn the driver of approaching traffic and automatically engage the brakes to help avoid a collision. Chevrolet charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Bolt and the Bolt’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.
The Prius’ 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 Bolt doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Prius and the Bolt have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available around view monitors.
For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Prius its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 36 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Bolt has not been fully tested, yet.