The GV70’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The RDX doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
Both the GV70 and RDX have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The GV70 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The RDX’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.
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 GV70 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The RDX doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The GV70 has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The RDX doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the GV70 deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The GV70’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The RDX’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The GV70 Advanced/Prestige has a standard Reverse Parking Collision-Avoidance Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The RDX doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the GV70. But it costs extra on the RDX.
Both the GV70 and RDX have rear cross-traffic warning, but the GV70 has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The RDX’s Rear Cross Traffic Monitor doesn’t automatically brake.
The GV70’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 RDX doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the GV70 and the RDX have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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 available around view monitors.