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 Odyssey are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The ProMaster City Wagon doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Honda Odyssey 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 ProMaster City Wagon doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the Odyssey deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The Odyssey’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The ProMaster City Wagon’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.
The Odyssey has a standard Whiplash Mitigation Front Seat Design, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash Mitigation Front Seat Design system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The ProMaster City Wagon doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The Odyssey has standard Collision Mitigation Braking System, which use forward mounted sensors to warn the driver of a possible collision ahead. If the driver doesn’t react and the system determines a collision is imminent, it automatically applies the brakes at full-force in order to reduce the force of the crash or avoid it altogether. The ProMaster City Wagon doesn't offer collision warning or crash mitigation brakes.
The Odyssey’s lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. The ProMaster City Wagon doesn’t offer a lane departure warning system.
The Odyssey Sport/Touring/Elite has standard Parking Sensors to help warn the driver about vehicles, pedestrians or other obstacles behind or in front of their vehicle. The ProMaster City Wagon doesn’t offer a front parking aid.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Odyssey’s standard Cross Traffic Monitor uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The ProMaster City Wagon doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
The Odyssey’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 ProMaster City Wagon doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
The Odyssey Touring/Elite has standard HondaLink Assist, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The ProMaster City Wagon 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 Odyssey and the ProMaster City Wagon have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights and rearview cameras.
The Honda Odyssey weighs 799 to 907 pounds more than the Ram ProMaster City Wagon. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.
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 Odyssey its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 29 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The ProMaster City Wagon has not been tested, yet.