For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Prius Prime 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 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Prius Prime 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 Crosstrek Hybrid 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.
The Prius Prime XSE Premium offers an optional Panoramic View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Crosstrek Hybrid 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.
Both the Prius Prime and Crosstrek Hybrid have Rear Cross Traffic Alert, but the Prius Prime offers optional Parking Support Brake (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Crosstrek Hybrid’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the Prius Prime and the Crosstrek Hybrid have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.
Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Toyota Prius Prime is much safer than the Crosstrek Hybrid:
|
Prius Prime |
Crosstrek Hybrid |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
POOR |
Structure |
ACCEPTABLE |
POOR |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Peak Forces |
no contact |
55 G’s |
Neck Tension |
223 lbs. |
290 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
Shoulder Deflection |
1.54 in |
1.89 in |
Shoulder Force |
335 lbs. |
357 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.46 in |
2.01 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
9 MPH |
10 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
759 lbs. |
1116 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Neck Tension |
45 lbs. |
89 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
134 lbs. |
178 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Shoulder Deflection |
1.42 in |
2.09 in |
Shoulder Force |
268 lbs. |
424 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.06 in |
1.69 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
5 MPH |
13 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Pelvis Force |
692 lbs. |
825 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
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 Prime the rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 36 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Crosstrek Hybrid last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2022.