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 Venza are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Atlas Cross Sport doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Toyota Venza has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Atlas Cross Sport doesn’t offer knee airbags.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Venza. But it costs extra on the Atlas Cross Sport.
The Venza’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 Atlas Cross Sport doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Venza and the Atlas Cross Sport have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available around view monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Toyota Venza is safer than the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport:
|
Venza |
Atlas Cross Sport |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
152 |
307 |
Neck Injury Risk |
29.3% |
30% |
Neck Stress |
306 lbs. |
412 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
56 lbs. |
59 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.4 inches |
.7 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
37.4% |
39% |
Neck Compression |
95 lbs. |
117 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 Toyota Venza is safer than the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport:
|
Venza |
Atlas Cross Sport |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
146 |
208 |
Hip Force |
508 lbs. |
529 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
299 |
309 |
Spine Acceleration |
36 G’s |
41 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 Venza the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 72 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Atlas Cross Sport does not qualify as a “Top Safety Pick.”