For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Corolla Cross 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 Chevrolet Trailblazer doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Corolla Cross 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 Trailblazer 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 Corolla Cross XLE has a standard Parking Support Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Trailblazer doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Corolla Cross XLE has standard Front and Rear Parking Assist to help warn the driver about vehicles, pedestrians or other obstacles behind or in front of their vehicle. The Trailblazer doesn’t offer a front parking aid.
Both the Corolla Cross and Trailblazer offer rear cross-traffic warning, but the Corolla Cross XLE has Parking Support Brake (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Trailblazer’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.
The Corolla Cross’ 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 Trailblazer doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Corolla Cross and the Trailblazer have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee 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, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive 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 Toyota Corolla Cross is safer than the Chevrolet Trailblazer:
|
Corolla Cross |
Trailblazer |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Chest Movement |
.9 inches |
1.1 inches |
Abdominal Force |
129 lbs. |
199 lbs. |
Hip Force |
330 lbs. |
459 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
137 |
185 |
Hip Force |
367 lbs. |
517 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
13 inches |
HIC |
239 |
337 |
Spine Acceleration |
32 G’s |
38 G’s |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Corolla Cross the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 72 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Trailblazer has not been fully tested, yet.