For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Lincoln Nautilus 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 Acura RDX doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
Both the Nautilus and RDX have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Nautilus 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 Nautilus 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.
With its standard Co-Pilot 360 Assist+, the Lincoln Nautilus is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Acura RDX, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:
|
|
Nautilus |
RDX |
| Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
|
Crossing Child - DAY |
|
| 12 MPH |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
| 25 MPH |
AVOIDED |
-16 MPH |
|
|
Crossing Adult - NIGHT |
|
| 12 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
| 12 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
-10 MPH |
| 25 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
| 25 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
-24 MPH |
|
|
Parallel Adult - NIGHT |
|
| 25 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
-23 MPH |
| 25 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
No Slowing |
| 37 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
-31 MPH |
| 37 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
No Slowing |
| Warning Issued-Low beams |
1.7 sec |
No Warning |
The Nautilus has standard Post Collision Braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The RDX 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 Nautilus has standard Reverse Brake 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.
Both the Nautilus and RDX have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Nautilus has Rear Cross Traffic Braking (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 Nautilus’ 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 Nautilus and the RDX have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras and rear cross-path warning.
The Lincoln Nautilus has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2024 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The RDX is only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2024, though it hasn’t yet been rated in the updated moderate overlap frontal test, a requirement for the “Top Safety Pick Plus” award.