For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Lexus UX 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 Honda HR-V 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 UX are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The HR-V doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Lexus UX 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 HR-V doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The UX has standard Whiplash Injury Lessening Front Seatbacks, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash Injury Lessening Front Seatbacks system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The HR-V doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The UX 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 HR-V 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 UX 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 HR-V doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the UX’s standard Rear Cross-Traffic Alert uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The HR-V doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
The UX’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 HR-V doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
The UX has standard Safety Connect®, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The HR-V doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the UX and the HR-V have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and rear parking sensors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Lexus UX is safer than the Honda HR-V:
|
UX |
HR-V |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
36% |
41% |
Neck Stress |
163 lbs. |
218 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
345/566 lbs. |
574/500 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
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 Lexus UX is safer than the Honda HR-V:
|
UX |
HR-V |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
52 |
148 |
Chest Movement |
.8 inches |
.8 inches |
Abdominal Force |
149 lbs. |
158 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
96 |
357 |
Spine Acceleration |
46 G’s |
59 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Spine Acceleration |
44 G’s |
48 G’s |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
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 Lexus UX is much safer than the HR-V:
|
UX |
HR-V |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
POOR |
Structure |
GOOD |
POOR |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
166 |
325 |
Neck Tension |
223 lbs. |
335 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.83 in |
1.34 in |
Shoulder Force |
223 lbs. |
335 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.02 in |
1.42 in |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Pelvis Force |
892 lbs. |
1182 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
150 |
359 |
Neck Compression |
67 lbs. |
89 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.46 in |
1.57 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
6 MPH |
8 MPH |
Pelvis |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
Pelvis Force |
1049 lbs. |
1316 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 UX its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 29 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The HR-V last would have qualified as only a standard “Top Safety Pick” in 2018.