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 Versa SV/SR are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Accent doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Nissan Versa 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 Accent doesn’t offer knee airbags.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Versa has standard Rear Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Accent doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Versa’s lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane. The Accent doesn’t offer a lane departure warning system.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Versa SV/SR’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 Accent doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
The Versa SV/SR’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 Accent doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Versa and the Accent have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, rearview cameras, available daytime running lights and blind spot warning systems.
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 Nissan Versa is safer than the Hyundai Accent:
|
Versa |
Accent |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
145 |
194 |
Chest Movement |
1 inches |
1.3 inches |
Abdominal Force |
216 lbs. |
258 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
250 |
527 |
Spine Acceleration |
32 G’s |
84 G’s |
Hip Force |
461 lbs. |
635 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
10 inches |
12 inches |
Spine Acceleration |
29 G’s |
35 G’s |
Hip Force |
481 lbs. |
880 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.