For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Rav4 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 Fiat 500X doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests front crash prevention systems. With a score of 6 points, IIHS rates the Pre-Collision System in the Rav4 as “Superior.” The 500X scores only 4 points and is rated only “Advanced.”
The Rav4 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 500X 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 Rav4 (except LE) offers an optional Parking Support Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The 500X doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Rav4 Adventure/Limited AWD/TRD Off-Road’s standard Downhill Assist Control allows you to creep down safely. The 500X doesn’t offer Downhill Assist Control.
The Rav4’s standard 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. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the 500X and is only available on 500X Sport.
The Rav4 Limited/TRD Off-Road offers an optional Bird’s Eye View Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The 500X only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
Both the Rav4 and 500X offer rear cross-traffic warning, but the Rav4 (except LE) has Parking Support Brake (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The 500X’s Rear Cross Path Detection doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the Rav4 and the 500X have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and blind spot warning systems.
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 Rav4 the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 71 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The 500X last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.