For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Mazda CX-30 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Jeep Compass doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Mazda CX-30 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 Compass doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The CX-30 Turbo Premium Plus has standard Rear Smart Brake Support that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The Compass doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
Both the CX-30 and Compass have rear cross-traffic warning, but the CX-30 Turbo Premium Plus has Smart Braking Support - Rear Crossing (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Compass’ Rear Cross Path Detection doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the CX-30 and the Compass 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, 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, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors 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 Mazda CX-30 is safer than the Jeep Compass:
|
CX-30 |
Compass |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
148 |
196 |
Neck Injury Risk |
26.7% |
41% |
Neck Stress |
216 lbs. |
445 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
18 lbs. |
38 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
201/172 lbs. |
326/489 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.8 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
33.5% |
36% |
Neck Stress |
172 lbs. |
235 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
85 lbs. |
92 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 Mazda CX-30 is safer than the Jeep Compass:
|
CX-30 |
Compass |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
73 |
102 |
Hip Force |
275 lbs. |
335 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Hip Force |
525 lbs. |
928 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
178 |
355 |
Spine Acceleration |
30 G’s |
39 G’s |
Hip Force |
583 lbs. |
663 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Mazda CX-30 is much safer than the Compass:
|
CX-30 |
Compass |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Structure |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
89 |
189 |
Neck Tension |
156 lbs. |
268 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.87 in |
1.02 in |
Shoulder Force |
223 lbs. |
245 lbs. |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
POOR |
Pelvis Force |
759 lbs. |
1517 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
144 |
202 |
Neck Compression |
67 lbs. |
223 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.94 in |
2.13 in |
Shoulder Force |
245 lbs. |
491 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
.71 in |
1.77 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
11 MPH |
14 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
379 lbs. |
937 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the CX-30, with its four-star roll-over rating, is 4.9% to 5.7% less likely to roll over than the Compass, which received a three-star rating.
For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the CX-30 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 58 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Compass was last a “Top Safety Pick Plus” in 2019 but no longer qualifies.